SECRETARY'S REPORT. 9 



in the following pages, of the grasses, a family of plants the 

 most extensive and the most beautiful, as well as the most 

 important to mankind. It embraces nearly a sixth part of the 

 whole vegetable kingdom ; it clothes the globe with perpetual 

 verdure, or adorns it at fixed seasons with a thick matted carpet 

 of green, none the less beautiful for its simplicity, and it nour- 

 ishes and sustains by far the greater part of the animals that 

 serve iis and minister to our wants. 



When we consider the character of our climate, and tlie 

 necessity of stall feeding during five or six months of the year, 

 for which we are dependent mainly on the grasses, we shall see 

 that in an economical point of view, this subject is one of the 

 most important that can occupy the farmer's attention. We 

 have in this State alone, according to recent official statistics, 

 no less than 80,321 horses; 77,511 oxen and steers, and 183,010 

 cows and heifers ; valued in the aggregate at $15,428,524; while 

 we make annually 648,610 tons of hay, being less than a ton to 

 the acre, valued at $8,702,917. 



The annual value of the grass crop to the country, for 

 pasturage and hay together, is not less than $300^000,000. 



I shall endeavor to give a brief account of the natural history 

 or descrtpti'on of all the useful grasses found in our fields and 

 pastures, partly because it is essential to a complete imder- 

 standing of the subject, and partly because there is at present 

 no popular treatise on the subject within the easy reach of our 

 farmers, and something of the kind is needed for reference ; 

 but I shall confine myself mainly to a plain and practical treat- 

 ment of the subject, making such suggestions as I think may 

 be useful, on the cultivation, cutting and curing of the grasses 

 for hay, the comparative value of the different varieties, and 

 the general management of grass lands. 



This subject, familiar to me from my earliest recollection, 

 has occupied my attention almost exclusively, during the past 

 year. Within this period I have been able to make an exten- 

 sive collection, embracing nearly all the varieties of our New 

 England grasses, for preservation in the Agricultural Museum 

 connected with my office. I have sought information on the 

 subject not only from my own observations, — which have 

 extended over every county in the State excepting one,* — but 



* Dukes. 

 2* 



