The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1856-02-27
From the Southern Farmer.

DHo0RA CORN, OR INDIAN MILLET.
MRssRs. EDITORS Spring before he last
an old school mate Of mine, Mr.. GRAY of
Texas, enclosed 10 me in letter few seeds
OF what he called Dh0ota Corn. planted
them as he directed. and obtained snail
crop. Last spring planted again, but 50 late
that the frost killed the crop before il matur-
ed. Fur.unaiel, one Of my children planted
some seed IN good time, aud ! serd you BY
express three heads for your inspection.
II suckers great deal. aud cacl, stock and
each sucker produces such a head as is sent
To you. II should be planted 5 feet between
the rows. and or 4 seed every fo0t in the
drill. planted in very rich high land. The
mass oi vegetation was enormous. One stalk
has just been measured, and it is fourteen feet
seven inches long, and filled With blades.
do not know whether it is much relished by
stock. as have not fed any away, but d.
not doubt il.
am inclined 10 think that The main ol,iec-
lion to growing il, is its slowncss 10 ripening.
Il should be planted as soon as possible. so
that il escapes the spring irnst Probably il
may, when acclimaied, mature earlier; II il
does il will be valuable addition TO our
present stock Of cereals. You can well ina
ginr that the weld must be Yer, great to the
acre. when every square feet produces a
half dozen Of such heads as send YOU.
wish you to present une Of the head, 10 Mr..
Nicol, 10 be planted on naurexpermental larm.
Mr.. Gray says that when il reaches the eight
ofa fool il j. a good plan TO Craze il of with
calves Or sther stock, an, that il will sDnn
spring up again. aud the yield will not be
lessened But our season is too ,hurt for this,
and such an experiment would result in its
being nipped BY an October irost.
Yours. Jas. Z. BRUCE.
The Dhoora corn has been highly spuken Of
by ihose who have tried IL, aud we think our
farmers might find il to heir interest TO grow
il. The specimens sent Us by our correspon-
dent are very beautiiul. aud we shall take
pleasure 10 distributing the seeds to appi-
cant,.
Bayarl TAYLOR. in his journey 10 Central
Africa, describes IL very accurately. "One oi
the principal staples d Egypt j, the dhoora
lhO eus sorghtHn) which resembles The sed
I'm .izel N MANY respects. Ia appearance il
Is yrr, like broom corn. but instead OF the
long, lon.e panlclc Of red seeds, il IS topped
bv compact cone of glains. smaller than
thnse Of the maize. but resembling them ia
form aud taste. The stalks are from ten to
fifteen feet high. aud tlr heads frequently
contain a. much substance as two ears of
maize. II il planted in close rows, aud when
ripe is cut by the hand with short sickle,
after which the head. are taken oil aud thresll-
ed separately. The grain is led to horses,
,lonke sand fowls, anu 10 Upper Egypt isused
almost universally lor bread IL the Middle
aud Southern States Of America this gram
would thrive well. and N ght be introduced
with advantage"
A valuable property i said 70 be that i
yields g,eat quantity of the best fodder.
The product 81 gram will doubtless be very
great. and il is quite probable that II will
considerably exceed that rG corn; but how
far il may supply its place, even a. tood Tor
horses, remains 10 be tested. u il. IL any
rate, deserving of trial A very favorable
notice Of II was published IN the Farmer t~u
weeks ago. to which We refer our readers.
30. Il.