254 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 



" Tliese differences are very great, and if composition influences 

 feeding properties, as it must as certainly as effect of any kind 

 follows cause, tlie value of the different grasses must be very 

 variable. I would, however, guard the farmer, who has a prac- 

 tical acquaintance with this matter, from judging hastily that the 

 theoretical equivalents of nutritive value here shown, are not in 

 accordance with experience. It is well to remember that many 

 of those grasses, which are highly valued, are so valued not 

 because of their intrinsic worth as feeding agents, but because 

 they present themselves at a time when they are very much 

 wanted — that is to say, in early spring. The most remarkable 

 specimens in this table are the w^ater-meadow grass, (first crop), 

 and the Dactylis glomerata, (with seeds ripe). Both in the quan- 

 tity of nitrogen and fatty matters the water-meadow grass nearly 

 doubles the other grasses in the Table. This meadow was com- 

 posed principally of the grasses Poa trivialis, Holcus lanatus, 

 Hordeum pratense, Avena pratensis, Lolium perenne, &c., in none 

 of which do we see the peculiarity which unitedly they show in 

 this meadow. Are we to attribute the high proportions of fat 

 and flesh-forming principles to the action of the water in irriga- 

 tion ? If so, we have indeed in it a most important and powerful 

 agent. The other instance named (the Dactylis glomerata), shows 

 us how large a proportion of nitrogen is accumulated in the plant 

 as it progresses to maturity; and whatever view we may take of 

 this circumstance in relation to the nutritive properties of this 

 plant, we cannot doubt that it is then that the soil most suffers 

 from the drain which is made upon it. 



" The Italian rye-grass (Lolium italicum) is remarkable for the 

 small quantity of useless matter, (woody fiber), the large propor- 

 tion of soluble carbonaceous matter, (starch, gum, &c.), and the 

 moderate proportion of albuminous constituents. From the w^ell 

 known value of Italian- rye-grass the composition is a matter 



of interest. 



" Table VI. — In these, the Artificial grasses, we find the propor- 

 tion of the different principles varying to the following extent : 



Lowest. Highest. Average. 



Flesh-forming principles, 10.34 24.60 19.03 



Fat-producing " 2.51 4.77 3.65 



Heat-giving « 33.15 49.65 41.29 



" The chief peculiarties of this series, in comparison with those 



of the natural grasses, consist in the much higher proportion (in 



