MAINE EOAilD OF AGRICULTURE. 



♦ ■ ♦ ' » 



PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS 



AT THE ANNUAL MEETING AT 



A^^ARREN, FEB. 19th, 20th and 21st, 1878. 



THE GRASSES OF MAINE. 



By Samuel Wasson, East Surry. 



Grass, an herb with long, narrow leaves, is the common 

 herbage of the field, on which cattle feed. As its properties 

 are unlike, it is variously grouped, the classifications being 

 scientific, artificial, superficial and whimsical— the whimsical, 

 being the one in use in common every-day life, and which 

 calls everything a grass, is like calling every creeping thing 

 an insect because it creeps. 



A popular and convenient classification arranges them iii 

 five groups, as — Jungle or Bush, Aquatic or Water, Marine 

 or Seaside, Meadow or Upland, Agrarian or Fallow. 



The classification for the purpose of this paper, is founded 

 upon use alone, disregarding all the features of the plant, ex- 

 cepting in the relation of friend or foe. 



The GramineoR, or Grass Family, the most important in the 

 vegetable kingdom, is a vast family of plants, comprising 300 



