Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-10-30
PERHAPS THERE'S MILLIONS IN 1T.

A report became current in the
South last spring that new grain had
been discovered. and the Agricul-
tural Department has since been COL
leoting information on the subject.
The largest crop seems to have ap-
peared in the neighborhood of Pitts
boro, Russell county. Ala. There, on
the low-lying banks of streams. are
quantities of cane, from the tops of
which hang long tassels composed of
punches of leaves and seeds, much like
oats. 1t was discovered that cattle
going down into the cane brakes would
eat the tassels. The grain was found
to be sweet and starchy. having
general flavor not unlike oats. After
this discovery quantities of the grain
was fed to the farm animals. Horses,
it is said, prefer it to corn and oats.
Chickens and hogs were also fed with
it, and hogs became fat ON it. So far
as is known at present, no attempt has
been made to grind it into flour and
make bread, but it is believed that
if properly ground it could be made
into bread and pastry which would be
palatable and nutritious.
Prof. Coville who has charge of the
herbarlum at the Agricultural Depart
ment, said that it seemed now as If
the chief difficulty in regard to the
new cereal was the unreliability of its
been known to grow for years without
tassels or grain. Now, for no appar.
ent cause, it produced an enormous
crop. He thought that if, by con-
tinued planting and cultivation the
cane could be made to seed with some
regularity, there was no doubt of its
value as a cereal in the same class as
corn, oats and barley, but SO little is
really known about the seed of the
cane that at present it is difficult
matter to make any trustworthy pre-
diction about its usefulness. In ap-
pearance the seeds are very much like
oat grains, except that their size is
two or three times greater. The husk
is about an inch in length, and the
seed inside is about half an inch long.
The husk becomes dry and yellow, but
the seed remains hard and is very
agreeable to the taste. This hardness
of the seed will prevent it from de-
caying as rapidly as some other cereals.
1t has very high terminating per-
centage.
Owing to it's taste of oats, some
people have suggested that the cane
has been crossed with oats, but it is
not believed at the Agricultural De-
partment that this is the case. The
grain has been kept and planted in
various soils under different condi-
tions to determine the regularity with
which it will produce crops. If the
crops prove to be regular the value of
the cane to farmers in the South will
be inestimable. Many of the farms
and plantations consist partially of
cane brakes and low lying lands which
might all be put to valuable use. If
crops nearly if not quite so valuable
as corn could be gathered from land
heretofore considered useless. the
Southern farmer would be glad to
welcome the new cereal
In the crop near Pittsboro SO large
were the tassels that it is said some
of the smaller stalks were bowed to
the ground. One farmer asserted that
one stalk yielded as much as peck
of grain. According to newspaper ac-
counts millions of bushels have been
IL
the discovery, took advantage of the
opportunity and put all their hands to
work thrashing out the grain, which
they have stored up and will feed to
their cattle in the winter. Charles
ton News and Courier.