Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/568

* MILLER'S TALE. 514 MILLET. penter of Oxford. The source is unknown, but is supposed to be one of the rude jesting stories of the time. MILLER'S THUMB (so called from the sluipe of the lieadj, ur KivEB Bullhead. A small, spiny-rayed fish {Vollus gobio) common in the streams of England and Northern Europe and Asia. It rarely reaches five inches in length. It is brown above, varying in intensity, as in many fishes, with the color of the bottom, and white beneath. Its disproportionately large, flat- tened head compared to its body, and the entire absence of scales, give it an ugly appearance. The flesh is reddish w^hcn boiled, is said to be of excellent flavor, and is much sought after in some countries. In the United States a related species {Coitus icialops) is sometimes called 'miller's thumb.' It occurs in all clear streams of the Xorthcrn and Middle States. These fishes live on small organisms and on fish-eggs, and are considered a destructive pest by fish culturists, especially in res])ect to trout-eggs. The English fish is a favorite among anglers. MILLET (Fr. millet, diminutive of mil. OF. mil, mcil, It. miglio, from Lat. milium, millet). A name applied to certain cereal and forage grasses of several distinct genera and species. !Iillp1s are extensively used as forage crops in many countries and it has been estimated that they furnish food for about one-third of the in- habitants of the globe. Williams states that "be- tween 33.000.000 and 40.000,000 acres of millets roxTAU. .MILLET (Sotiiriu itallcn). are grown annually in India, and Japan alone uses about .3.').000.000 busliels of seed each year for human food." In the United States the culti- vated varieties of millet may t)e divided into three groups, namely foxtail millets, barnyard millets, and broom-corn millets. The foxtail mil- lets, |)erha|)S the most important group, are of very ancient cultivation. They are believed by some writers to have been included in the order of Chinnong. ii.c. 2700. re(|uiring certain plants to be sown each year by the Emperor of China in n public ceremony. De Candolle considers this kind of millet a native of China. .Japan, and the Indian .Vrchipetajro. The most common varieties of this groHj) all belong to one species, Setaria italica, and are grown in North America, Europe, India, China, Japan, and North Africa. The barnyard millets include the cultivated varieties of the widely distributed species Panicum Cru.s- galli, or barnyard grass, and also the varieties belonging to other species of the genus Panicum, especially Panicum colonum and Panicum tru- mentaceum. The varieties derived from Panicum Crus-galli are considered the true barnyard mil- lets, and among them a variety of Japanese barn- yard millet and the 'Ankee' grass of the South- western United States are the most important. Shama or Sanwa millet, or jungle rice ( Panicum colonum), a tropical plant, closelj' allied to true barnyard grass, is a valual)le food and forage plant in many tropical and subtropical regions and extensively grown in Southern and Eastern Asia, but little in the United States. The third group, or broom-corn millets, eompri.ses the varie- ties of Panicum niiliaceunL This species, univer- sally known to agriculture, has been in cultiva- tion in Europe 'since prehistoric times and is still the common millet of the Old World. Its origin is very uncertain, but it is probably a native of the warmer regions of Asia. The classification of varieties of this species is based mainly upon the color of the ripe seed — yellow, white, and red. The term Indian or African millet is often loosely applied to certain of the non-saccharine sor- ghums, such as durra, Kafir corn, and pearl millet { I'cnnisetum typhoidrum), which last is also called Egj'ptian or cat-tail millet. Millets are not well adapted to heavy clay or wet soils, but succeed best on fertile friable loams. The preparation of the soil is the same as for other grass crops. In the United States the seed is usually sown late in the spring to prevent the harvest of the millet from interfering with the harvest of the cereals. The seed is tisually sown broadcast at the rate of one-half bushel to the acre. It is, however, often drilled. For hay, millet is usually harvested with a mower when the crop has just finished heading, and for the seed with a reaper like cereals a little before it is fully ripe. If harvested when fully ripe there is usually a heavy loss of seed in handling. Where the self-binder is used in har- vest in;; this crop, the sheaves are bomid loosely and put u]) in shocks to cure. T"he yield of cured hay per acre ranges from four to six tons and the yield of .seed from forty to fifty bushels. This crop is practicall.v free from attacks of insects and plant diseases. Feeding Value. Millet is valuable principally as hay and as a soiling crop. It is also useful for silage. The ripened seeds are seldom fed to stock, but are much used as food for poultrv and birds. If used as stock food they should be crushed or ground. The seed of broom-corn mil- let has found more favor in the United States as a cattle feed than that of other varieties. Cerman millet cut when the heaiN are well filled but the seeds still soft has the following percentage com- position: Water, 71.7; protein. 2.7; fat. 0..t: nitrogen-free extract. 14. .3; crude filire. 9..3 ; and ash. 1..5. German millet hay: Water. 7.7: pro- tein, 7. .5; fat. 2.1; nitrogen-free extract, 4fl.O; crude fibre. 27.7: and ash, (i.O. Other millets fresh and cured resemble in composition the examples quoted more or less closely. The aver- age percentage composition of millet seed fol- lows: Water, 14.0; protein. ll.S; fat. 4.0; nitro-