HYBRIDIZATION OF THE GRASSES. 119 



THE QUESTION-BOX. 



Several questions were presented through the question- 

 box, among them the following : — 



" Would it be possible to improve the grasses by hybridiza- 

 tion or cross-fertilization ? " 



Mr. Flint. I will say a few words in reply to that ques- 

 tion. It would be possible in a few cases, but not very 

 practicable in any. The grasses differ in their floral struc- 

 ture. They are not all uniform in their mode of growth. 

 We have a class that may be called dioecious grasses ; that is, 

 grasses in which the male and the female, or the staminate 

 and pistillate, organs of the flower are arranged on entirely 

 distinct plants. That is the case with only a very limited 

 number of species. What is called the " buffalo-grass," which 

 grows in the South, and in Colorado, and generally on the 

 plains, is one of that kind. I have seen patches of buffalo- 

 grass in Colorado, composed entirely of staminate, or male 

 plants ; and other patches composed entirely of pistillate, or 

 female plants. Now, the pistillate plants must get their 

 pollen from the staminate plants, which may be at some 

 distance off. It was at first supposed that they were differ- 

 ent species, until the fact was discovered that one grass was 

 simjDly a staminate, or male jilant ; and the other a pistillate, 

 or female plant, both belonging to the same species. Of 

 course the seed is produced only on the pistillate plants. 



Another class of grasses may be called the monoecious 

 grasses; that is, where the staminate and pistillate flowers 

 are on the same j^lant, but in distinct positions, separated 

 from each other. The most familiar example of that is our 

 common Indian corn. Every farmer knows that the stami- 

 nate flowers of Indian corn come on the top, called the 

 " tassels ; " while the pistillate flowers are arranged on an axis 

 along the main stalk, called the " ear ; " and that the pollen 

 from the staminate flowers must find its way through the 

 pistils, which are the silks attached to the ears, as everybody 

 knows, before fertilization can take place. There are but few 

 grasses which are of that kind ; that is, where the plant shows 

 both pistillate and staminate floAvers, but on separate and 

 distinct parts of the plant. Take, for instance, the common 

 wild rice, which you find along our brooks (^Zizania aquatica). 



