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"cheat." It seems like robbing the devil of his due to take this 

 name from the brome grass, chess (Bromus secalinus), which has 

 borne it so long in England and the United States. This darnel has 

 been known and written about for centuries, and has had the repu- 

 tation of being poisonous. Lolium, in its old Latin name, and temu- 

 lerttum means drunken. It is very widely, we may say universally, 

 spread over the grain lands of this coast. Unless a farmer takes 

 great pains to clean his seed grain, he sows it with nearly every crop, 

 and it is carried from place to place by the waters of every stream, 

 and by birds and animals innumerable. Like the other grasses of 

 this genus, mentioned above, it flourishes on a stiff soil with abund- 

 ance of water. If the season is favorable to the growth of grain, that 

 gets the start, and the darnel makes but little showing, though it may 

 ripen and drop its seed for the next year. The use of the header is 

 particularly favorable to the increase of this, and many another, weed 

 which does not ordinarily attain the hight of thrifty grain. Grazing 

 off headed stubble with sheep, particularly Southdowns, helps very 

 much in keeping the land clear of darnel, Napa thistles, etc. 



When the winter is cold, and there are excessive rains, so that some 

 of the grain rots in the ground, and the rest makes a stunted growth, 

 the darnel stools out and takes its place. The field is then said to be 

 "cheated," i. e., the grain is supposed to be turned into darnel. Many 

 people do not notice the difference between grain and darnel before 

 they begin to throw up their stalks, consequently they are "cheated" 

 with the hope of full crops when the ground is covered with darnel. 

 A little study of the plants, side by side, will enable any one to dis- 

 tinguish between them, even in their early stages. The leaf of the 

 darnel is narrower than that of wheat. It is very rich in silica, and 

 the mature stems are stiff and harsh. The upper side of the leaf is 

 finely corrugated, has rather a dull surface, and feels rough to the 

 finger, drawn over it from the stem towards the opposite end. The 

 under side is much smoother, and glistens in the sunlight. On a wet 

 piece of ground its dark green is in strong contrast with the sickly 

 wheat. The darnel is more erect in its growth, and the stools are not 

 as spreading as in wheat. 



It is very desirable that the question as to the evil results from eat- 

 ing this grass, and its seed, should be definitely settled. There is cer- 

 tainly a great deal of it in the hay raised about here, and I have 

 never heard of any bad effects from it. Thinking that the poisonous 

 qualities might be developed in the ripening of the grain, I wrote to 

 Mr. E. T. Wall, of Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, who, I knew, raised it 

 as a crop. In the course of his reply, he says : " As for cheat being 

 poisonous, that is new to me ; for I, in common with the majority of 

 my neighbors, consider it the best hay we have. I have fed the 

 threshed cheat grain to horses and hogs, and prefer it to any other 

 grain. I have never noticed any of the symptoms you speak of 

 among stock here, and I am satisfied it will produce no such effects." 



This is, certainly, very strong testimony, not only as to the harm- 

 lessness of darnel, but as to its actual value as a field crop. I shall 

 take every opportunity to obtain information on this point, by exper- 

 iment and from the experience of others. It would be strange if it 

 should prove, after all, that the only "cheat" about this grass is the 

 "poison" in its name. If darnel is innocent, let it be relieved from 

 the imputation of being "the only poisonous grass," and place it 

 among the honored cereals. It is possible that darnel may be sub- 



