VERMONT AGRICULTURAL. REPORT. 17 



GRASS PROBLEMS WITH SOME SUGGESTIONS AS 



TO THEIR SOLUTION. 



L. R. JONES, BOTANICAL Dl^PARTMENT, VljRMONT EXPERIMENT 



STATION. 



Probably three-fourths of the cleared land of New England 

 is given over to grass and clover culture. Both the climatic and 

 soil conditions of this section are peculiarly suited to the growth 

 of grass and the agricultural reputation of New England is 

 largely based upon this fact. Nature has here given a wider 

 variety and more luxuriant growth of valuable natural grasses 

 than in any other like area in the United States. In the earlier 

 days with virgin soil little more was needed to secure rich pas- 

 tures and meadows than to give the natural grasses a chance by 

 clearing the land. With the gradual depletion of the soil we are 

 forced more and more to come to nature's aid. In other words 

 we are each year in New England being led to see our grass 

 problems more clearly defined. I will try to outline some of 

 the grass problems as I see them with suggestions as to their 

 solution. These will be only suggestions, however, for each 

 man's problems in this, as in other lines, are more or less his 

 own and must be solved somewhat individually, 



LEARN TO KNOW THE VALUABLE GRASSES. 



The first thing clearly to recognize is that although we 

 handle the clovers and grasses as one crop and popularly call 

 both "grasses," they are fundamentally different and must be 

 handled differently. Moreover, there are many dift'erent kinds 

 of the true grasses as well as of the clovers, each with its own 

 peculiarities. In Vermont we have no less than 130 true grasses 

 growing naturally or introduced in cultivation. Everyone of 

 these true grasses forms palatable and nutritious food for stock 

 at some stage of its growth. Many of these are rare woodland 

 and mountain species, but more than a dozen of them occur 

 commonly in pastures and meadows. The first step toward the 

 solution of the grass problems is for each man to learn to recog- 

 nize as many of these as grow on his own farm and distinguish 



