better protected from feathered depredators than other kinds of millet.

This grain was introduced into cultivation in Switzerland about the middle of the last century by M. Tschiffeli, who received about a spoonful of the seed from Dr. Schreber. M. Tschiffeli published an account of his method of cultivation in the Transactions of the Berne Society; some extracts from which paper will suffice to show the capabilities of this grain when cultivated in northern latitudes. Among the advantages which it offers are stated, its adaptation to all sorts of soils, the small quantity of manure which it requires, the trifling amount of labour for which it calls, and the small degree of exhaustion which it occasions to the soil, in comparison with the largeness of the return which it yields.

M. Tschiffeli sowed his first seed in the month of May, on a gravelly soil exposed to the north wind, and which the year before had borne a very indifferent crop of bigg. The seed was spread very thin, and to this circumstance he attributed the fact that the stalks rose to the height of eight feet and upwards. The ears were above ten inches long, and but for an inopportune shower of hail which destroyed half the seed, the spoonful would probably have been multiplied into a peck of grains. In May of the following year, about a quart of seed was sown upon a piece of ground twenty paces long and half as broad, which space, it was soon apparent, was far too circumscribed for the quantity of seed. The stalks came up very close, and were interwoven with each other, reaching scarcely to the height of five feet; and the ears were much smaller than those of the preceding year. The produce, however, was seven pecks, or fifty-six for one. In the next year, thirty square rods of land were sowed with half a peck of the seed.

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Here, again, the millet came up far too thick, being almost as much crowded from its greater tillering, as it was in the preceding year; notwithstanding which, the produce was so great, that twenty bushels were harvested, being a return of one hundred and sixty for one, and at the rate of more than one hundred bushels

to the acre. M. Tschiffeli was of opinion that ten pounds of seed would prove an ample allowance for an acre of ground, and that greater space being thus allowed for the individual plants, the proportion between the quantities sown and harvested would be still more favourable. It does not appear that millet has ever been subjected to the system of drill husbandry, although the results here given seem to point out that system as being peculiarly applicable to its cultivation.

Sorghum is cultivated largely in some parts of China and in Cochin China. In England the autumn is rarely sufficiently dry and warm for ripening its seeds, otherwise the plant might prove useful in some poor and light soils, the produce of which is ordinarily insufficient to repay the greater expense attendant upon the cultivation of other grain. Sorghum was raised in this country as a rare plant, in the garden of John Gerarde, as early as 1596.

The golden-coloured millet seeds seen in our grocers' shops are the produce of the sorghum saccharatum, or yellow-seeded millet. Use is made of these in a similar manner with rice, for the preparation of puddings.

This variety is likewise a native of India; it is cultivated largely in China and Cochin China; and has been introduced into the island of Jamaica. Philip Miller reared it in his garden in 1759.

In warm climates millet is usually sown in May and June, and perfects its seeds within four months. The plant is not subject to blight, nor is it easily

injured by either drought or rain. The only care required in its cultivation is to allow sufficient space for the tillering of the plants, and to weed and hoe the intervals during the early part of the growth; after which it will overtop and smother all weeds.

When millet is ripe, the panicles are cut off near to the top of the stalk, and collected in sacks or baskets. They are then laid up in heaps, and carefully covered during five or six days; after which they are spread on the barn floor, and the grain is threshed out in the ordinary manner with a flail. The more primitive method of treading out the grain by means of oxen is resorted to in some parts India.

If millet is not perfectly dry when deposited in the granary, it will soon be spoiled; but, on the other hand, if this precaution be properly taken, there is no grain that will keep longer or better. The weevil will not touch it, and although it is doubtless the better for being turned over occasionally, that process, so indispensable with other grain, may omitted here without producing any serious injury. In addition to the use made of the stalks as fodder, the Nubians employ them in the construction of temporary huts.

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In the barren districts of Bornou, a species of millet is produced, which is called by the inhabitants gussub, and upon which both men and animals are almost exclusively fed. By the poorer class it is frequently eaten, simply parched, or even without any culinary preparation. Other persons crush and then steep the seeds in water previous to eating them, and some few, who are the epicures of the land, clear the grain from the husk, pound it, and make it a light paste with melted fat: this favourite dish is called kaddel.

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Travellers who have visited the central parts

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of

Africa complain much of a grievous annoyance to which they were there subjected from the prickles of a grass which grows wild and in great abundance, particularly in the neighbourhood of water. "These

prickles are of the finest and most penetrating sharpness that can be imagined, they attach themselves to every part of the dress, and so small are the points that it is impossible to extract them without breaking and leaving a part behind *." The seed from this grass, which is called kaschia, is parched, broken, cleared from the husk, and, when boiled, is eaten in the manner of rice. When previously made into flour, kaschia is considered to be a great luxury.

The Nubians are accustomed to prepare a fermented liquor froin dhourra; this, which they call bouzah, is considered by them as a very wholesome and nutritious beverage.

THERE is one plant, the name of which seems to point it out as proper for receiving some notice in this place, although it has no natural affinity with the cerealia, and the seeds, which are rarely used as human food in any country, are never so employed in England. This plant is BUCK-WHEAT-Polygonum fagopyrum,-also frequently called brank.

The

name given to this plant in Germany, where it is most cultivated, is beech-wheat, from the resemblance which the grains bear in shape to the mast or nuts of the beech tree.

Buck-wheat is an annual plant, growing rather handsome, with branched herbaceous stems, having leaves which at first are roundish, but afterwards become arrow-shaped, resembling somewhat those of ivy, but being longer-pointed and much softer. The stalk is round and hollow; its general colour is green, but it sometimes has a reddish tinge: it com* Denham.

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Buck-wheat-Polygonum fagopyrum.

monly grows to the height of about thirty inches. At almost every joint of the stalk, lateral branches shoot out, which are terminated by purplish flowers, and these are succeeded by small triangular-shaped seeds, which are of a brownish-black colour on the outside, and white within. This grain is usually sown in May or June, and is of such rapid growth that it generally ripens its seeds within about one hundred days from the time of sowing. It will thrive in any soil, even in those which contain little else than sand. The largest increase is, however, obtained from dry ground, which has been thoroughly ploughed and pulverized; and in such circumstances as much as fifty or sixty bushels have been reaped from an