STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 131 



THE GRASSES OF THE STATE, 



BY PHOF. H. N. BOLANDBR, 



"I 



ONE OF THE BOTANISTS TO THE BOARD. 



I have the honor of submitting an enumeration of the California 

 grasses. It would be mere folly on my part to attempt to make a full 

 comprehensive report at present. Years may elapse before our grasses 

 are all and thoroughly known. Yet, we are nevertheless enabled to 

 draw some inferences from those facts that are known. There is but 

 little doubt that California will be obliged to import foreign fodder 

 grasses, provided there are such that are adapted to our peculiar cli- 

 mates. It might be easy yet to find suitable grasses for those portions 

 of this State that are situated within the foggy region along the coast, 

 especially west of the Redwoods; but insuperable difficulties present 

 themselves in reflecting upon proper material for the interior valleys 

 and foot-hills. 



For the coast I would recommend to experiment with : 



1. Poa pratensis (L.) — Green meadow grass. 



2. Feduca pratensis (Huds.) — Meadow fescue grass. 



3. Arrhenotherum avenaceum (Beauv.) — Oat grass. 



4. Lolium perenne (L.) — Ra}^ or rye grass. 



5. Dactylis glomerata (L.) — Orchard grass. 



, All these species 1 saw doing quite well in localities where they have 

 not been watered ; especially No. 3, the oat grass, looked particularly 

 bright and promising. 



For meadows in Santa Rosa and Russian River Yalleys, where some 

 of them seemed to be quite wet, the following grasses might warrant a 

 success : 



1. Dactylis glomerata (L.) — Orchard grass. 



2. Alopecurus pratensis (L.) — Meadow fox tail. 



3. Phkum pratense (L.) — Timothy, herd's grass. ,1 



4. Cynosurus cristatus — Crested dog's tail grass. 



Through a letter written by C. J. Croft, U. S. A., I obtained some 

 valuable information about four species of grasses growing in Arizona. 

 It is not improbable that some of them might do well in the interior. 

 The agricultural department ought to secure seeds thereof, and make 



