OTHER CEREALS.—Small quantities of a number of other cereals have been and are still cultivated in the United States. There are several millets grown for forage, but the aggregate amount is only a trifle compared with the other cereals, and they are not on the increase. One of these millets is quite extensively grown for the dried branches of the seed-bearing tops called the “brush,” and is familiar to every housekeeper as brooms, when attached to long handles. Another variety of the very fertile species, _Sorghum vulgare_,[6] is the durra or doura grown to some extent in the Southern States as a forage crop. But it is not our purpose to discuss the many varieties of plants that have been experimented with or are grown to only a small extent. Professor Brewer, than whom there is no better authority, and who has been laid under liberal contribution for facts in our two papers on the cereals, says: “The established cereals have been so long cultivated, are so differentiated into varieties, so adapted to different phases of cultivation, and to various uses to which man applies them, that it seems probable that the number will not be materially increased in cultivation, and, moreover, in our agriculture Indian corn so fills a part which in other countries is occupied by a number of other plants, either for forage or bread, that it will doubtless continue to exclude various species whose cultivation is practiced elsewhere.” If we do the best we can with the six cereals now grown we will have no cause for distress.
THE CEREALS: BARLEY, OATS, RICE AND BUCKWHEAT.
The cereals furnish the cook materials for many of her most valuable articles of food. Wholesome, easily prepared, and inexpensive, their use on the table can not be too strongly commended. Barley is not in general use among Americans, but the pearled barley ought to form an indispensable article in every larder. In soups it is excellent. The stock for barley soup should be made with the greatest care. Into your soup-kettle—every housewife needs one—put a carefully washed beef bone, and with it all your scraps of cold meat, trimmings from steaks, and bones of chickens, turkey and beefsteak. Put your meat into cold, clear water and for the first half hour allow it but a moderate heat; after that the pot should be placed on the back of the stove, allowing the soup to simmer for four or five hours. This low heat extracts all the juices from the meat, and, this done, the liquor should be strained and allowed to cool. When ready to use the thick layer of grease which forms on the top of the stock should be removed, and the vegetables—the more the better—which are to flavor the soup added. Allow this to simmer until the vegetables have given up their juices, then strain, and into your soup put pepper and salt, with a cup and a half of barley, and allow the whole to come to a boil. Serve hot. Cold and greasy soup is detestable. To prepare the barley for use it should be soaked for several hours and cooked until soft over a slow fire.