acres of land under cultivation with it, and the amount grown in some
years in this colony has been about 3,500 bushels.

In the United States millet is chiefly grown for making hay, being
found a good substitute for clover and the ordinary grasses. It is a
plant which will flourish well on rather thin soils, and it grows so
fast that when it is up and well set it is seldom much affected by
drought. It is commonly sown there in June, but the time of sowing
will vary with the latitude. Half a bushel of seed to the acre is the
usual quantity, sown broadcast and harrowed in. For the finest
quantity of hay, it is thought advisable to sow an additional quantity
of three or four quarts of seed. The ordinary yield of crops may be
put at from a ton to a ton and a half of hay to the acre. It should be
cut as soon as it is out of blossom; if it stands later, the stems are
liable to become too hard to make good hay. The variety known as
German millet is that most common in North America. It grows
ordinarily to the height of about three feet, with compact heads from
six to nine inches in length, bearing yellow seed. There are some
sub-varieties of this, as the white and purple-seeded.

The Italian millet, _Setaria italica_, is larger than the preceding,
reaching the height of four feet in tolerable soil, and its leaves are
correspondingly larger and thicker. The heads are sometimes a foot or
more in length, and are less compact than the German, being composed
of several spikes slightly branching from the main stem. It is said to
derive its specific name from being cultivated in Italy, though its
native habitat is India. It is claimed by some that this variety will
yield more seed than any other, and the seed is rather larger, but the
stalk is coarser, and would probably be less relished by stock.

If the greatest amount of seed is desired from the crop, it is best to
sow it in drills, two to two-and-a-half feet apart, using a seed drill
for the purpose. This admits of the use of a small harrow or
cultivator between the rows, while the plants are small, which keeps
out the weeds. The crop will ripen more uniformly in this way than
broadcast, and enables the cultivator to cut it when there will be the
least waste. The seed shatters out very easily when it is ripe, and
when the crop ripens unequally it cannot be cut without loss, because
either a portion of it will be immature, or, if left till it is all
ripe, the seed of the earl