SORGHUM VULGARE. Pers. Great millet.
S. commune, Beater. durra, Forsk.
Holcus sorghum, Linn. Andropogon sorghum, R. Durzla, Zurrut, Zura, ARAB. Sorgo, Ir.
l'young, Puttsz. Joar-kiar . of KANGRA.
Jolah, CAN Chavela, . . . MALEAL. Kau-liang, Pyaung, CHIN. Zoorna, . . . .SANSK.
Kaydeo, . . . . EGYPT. SoalUm, . Tau.
Kalamboki, . . . GR. Jonnaloo, Jonna, . TEL.
Juari, . . . . HIND. Jugeri, . . . . TURK.
•Sorghum vulgare grows on light sandy soils, And requires little moisture. It is grown in Egypt, and in all the countries of the south and cast of Asia, its grain being used as food for man, in the form of cakes and porridge, also for horned cattle, and its stalks, the karbi of India, as fodder for horned cattle and horses. It is grown in all the table-lands of India, is found in the Sutlej valley between Ramptir and Sungnam at an elevation of 6000 feet, but in the NAV. Himalaya only in the valleys. It is also grown by the Karen and Burmese. It growa on a reedy stem to the height of 8 or 10 feet, and bears irregularly shaped clusters of innutnerable round grains about twice as big as mustard seed. It is common all over the Levant, under the name of durra (or dourrall); also in Greece, where it is called kalamboki ; there is likewise a coarse sort in Italy, called Melica rossa, or Sorgo rosso.
In China, the seeds of the red variety are made itito wine in flu-pelt, and the exhausted graies are a favourite food for pigs. When grown for cattle in Madras, 10,000 lbs. weight of green. fodder may be taken off an acre of ground every three months. If the plot be irrigated, one-fourth more may be obtained, and the crop be cut every two months. That is, an acre of irrigated ground will produce about 70,000 lbs. weight of green
and nourishing fodder in one year.
Major-General Sir J. B. Hearsey, K.C.11., sent from Barmckpur, on the 5th March 1858, the seed gathered from one plant, which came up accidentally during the early rainy season of 1857, and grew to nearly 11 feet in height. He had it supported by a strong bamboo. It spread out fotir shoots from the stem close to the ground, and these stems also threw down roots. The head from the principal shoot was very large ; the side shoots also headed, but these were small. The number of seeds received from this one plant was 12,700. In the ChittuldrOog and Nuggur divi sions of,3fysore, it is sown during the thunder showers between the end of April and May, and the crop is reaped in September and October. The great defect in this grain is that it will not keep, being soon destroyed by insects; and the ryots have difficulty in preserving sufficient quan tity of it for seed in the following year. The seed grain is mixed with ashes, and packed with paddy straw; in spite•of which, however, insects obtain admittance ; but the sterns or straw of this grain, when well preserved from rain, will keep for about ten years, and are used as fodder. This is the millet designated in Ezekiel iv. 9.
Moisture, . . . White, 12'70 Red, 12'00 Nitrogenous znatter,. . „ 9'18 „ 9'51 Starchy matter, . . „ 74'53 „ 74'71 Fatty or oily matter, . „ 1'90 „ 2'15 Mineral constituents (al,h), „ 1'69 „ 1'63 —Cleghorn's Report ; Powell, i. p. 383 ; n Field, 1858 ; ill. E. J. R. 011857 ; Mason's Tenas scrim ; illacartney's Embassy.