Thanks, Gary. I appreciate your perspective on why pearl millet hasn't yet been developed as a grain crop here.
Regarding the content of the 1903 bulletin, it's interesting to note that one issue that it highlighted is unscrupulous business practices of some seed vendors of that era, who were apparently marketing pearl millet for forage under different names at higher practices. So the bulletin recommends farmers just buy "pearl millet" seed at better prices. Also, I'm reading that it was not until 1875 or later that pearl millet's cultivation "became at all general" in the Southern States. But that pearl millet and sorghum were introduced to the Southern States in the "fifties" (1850s). On the latter I have doubts. It is believed that sorghum first came to the US in the 1700s, in connection with the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Benjamin Franklin famously write about it in the context of broom-making in 1757. It's hard to believe that pearl millet didn't arrive until a century later, even if it may not have had as high a profile in the ag systems of the time. Some crops of African origin were apparently grown by enslaved people in whatever gardens they were permitted to have - could pearl millet have been one of them? Also note that some sources suggest that pearl millet may have been brought to some Spanish colonies in the New World as early as the 1600s - again, hard to imagine it didn't make it to British North America or the early US until two centuries later. Have yet to see a good history covering the early history of pearl millet in the US, It likely is given one or more different common appellations - for example an 1840 article in Farmers' Gazette and Cheraw Advertiser (Vol. 5, No. 36, 22 July 1840, page 1) refers to Pennisetum tiphoides (misspelling of P. typhoides, an earlier species name for pearl millet) as "Egyptian millet." See https://www.newspapers.com/image/352040494/ . Searching on "Egyptian millet," an 1823 Illinois paper printed a syndicated letter to American Farmer from a vinyard owner near Georgetown, DC, which in postscript describes planting some "Egyptian millet" seeds someone sent him, that "grew upwards of ten feet high, and has heads of more than twenty inches long..." - which sounds a lot like some African landraces of pearl millet (Edwardsville Spectator, Vol. 5, No. 225, 8 Nov. 1823, page 1 - https://www.newspapers.com/image/900580180/ ). So clearly, this plant was known before the 1850s, altho the name "Egyptian millet" is evidently used for other plants (as early as 1806, and even in Vermont), including sorghum. IMO we need a decent history of millets as a group in North America. There are different dynamics with the various species across the regions of this continent. That history (those histories) contribute to the larger narrative about the future of millets here. Anyway, will leave it there for now Don DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Wed, Apr 30, 2025 at 10:54 AM Gary Wietgrefe via Collab < [email protected]> wrote: > The 1903 Pearl Millet bulletin stating that pearl has been in the country > for 30 years indicates southern farmers began adopting pearl millet for > forage after the Civil War. Stand establishment, early harvest, and seed > yield seemed to be the main issues then. The first two have generally been > resolved with better planting equipment, depth control, fungicide seed > treatments with grazing, haying and baleage improvements. > > Consistent competitive seed yield and value of stalks after harvest > likely remain why pearl has not been developed as a grain crop....Gary > Wietgrefe > > On Wed, Apr 30, 2025 at 6:06 AM <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Send Collab mailing list submissions to >> [email protected] >> >> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >> https://lists.millets2023.space/mailman/listinfo/collab >> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >> [email protected] >> >> You can reach the person managing the list at >> [email protected] >> >> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >> than "Re: Contents of Collab digest..." >> >> >> Today's Topics: >> >> 1. "Pearl millet," USDA, 1903 (Don Osborn) >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Message: 1 >> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2025 00:18:01 -0400 >> From: Don Osborn <[email protected]> >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: [Collab] "Pearl millet," USDA, 1903 >> Message-ID: >> < >> ca+rhibvoeptpjsjv_hkdq_st+hhxian0yf2jirtn_fyrkra...@mail.gmail.com> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" >> >> Of historical interest, here's an early USDA pamphlet on pearl millet: >> >> "Pearl millet," by Carleton R. Ball, USDA Farmers' Bulletin No. 168, >> Washington, Government Printing Office, 1903. (16 pages) >> https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc85560/ >> >> The focus is on pearl millet as a fodder crop. >> >> >> Don Osborn, PhD >> (East Lansing, MI, US) >> North American Millets Alliance >> -------------- next part -------------- >> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >> URL: < >> https://lists.millets2023.space/pipermail/collab/attachments/20250430/3d5af637/attachment-0001.htm >> > >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> Subject: Digest Footer >> >> >> >> -- >> Collab mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.millets2023.space/mailman/listinfo/collab >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> End of Collab Digest, Vol 39, Issue 18 >> ************************************** >> > > > -- > Author, Gary W. Wietgrefe, > https://www.RelatingtoAncients.com/ > *Destination North Pole--5,000 km by bicycle* is an exciting, endearing, > humorous, dangerous and sometimes quirky travel adventure. 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