GRASSES AND SEDGES 33 
to the poles. Several grasses, like the Alpine Foxtail, grow in the coldest 
regions in great luxuriance; and the Esquimaux, dwelling in the seventy- 
third degree of north latitude, has large patches of herbage green as an 
English meadow. Dr. Lindley remarks, ‘‘The great mass of herbage, known 
by the name of sedges and grasses, constitutes perhaps a twelfth part of the 
described species of flowering plants ; and at least nine-tenths of the number 
of individuals composing the vegetation of the world.” 
Corn-fields are not less pleasing to our sense of beauty than grassy 
meadows; and, whether clad in the tender green of the spring blade, or the 
full brown of summer, enliven and enrich our landscape. Many grasses beside 
those which are cultivated, afford seeds equally nutritious, though smaller in 
size. Indeed, the wheat, on which we depend so largely for food, and the 
origin of which was, till lately, undiscovered, seems now proved, by 
M. Fabre’s experiments, to be but the cultivated form of the Atgilops, a 
grass infesting barley-fields on the shores of the Mediterranean. The grass, 
when wild, produces very small grains ; but this botanist found on sowing 
it, summer after summer, that a crop of good wheat finally arose from its 
seeds. 
When we consider how small the grains of corn are, it seems wonderful 
that man should have ever cultivated the cereal grasses for his nourishment. 
No doubt, the earliest cultivators were influenced in their choice of plants by 
the social growth of the grasses ; and so, observing men, finding that plants 
bearing these nutritive seeds grew together in great numbers, sowed them 
on lands where they were wanting—where they could be protected from 
injury, and whence they could be gathered in their season. 
Wherever now we see a corn-field waving in beauty, whether in the 
climes of east or west, or by the quiet homesteads which lie among the hills 
and valleys of our native land, it tells of peace, civilization, and domestic 
happiness ; it tells of homes. The men who sowed the grains from which 
sprung those towering blades are not wild wanderers over the earth. Man 
must have a spot to call his own, ere he will rise up early and work late, 
sowing the seed, or gathering in the ripened fruit ; and the tillage of the 
earth brings with it softer manners, and gradual improvement in the arts 
and sciences of civilized life. The house is reared, and children learn beneath 
its roof the love of kindred, of neighbours, and of country; and agricul- 
ture proves the source alike of individual and of national prosperity. 
A thorough knowledge of even the small number of grasses which adorn 
our meadows, fields, and woods will demand a little patient study. The 
genera and species are now, however, by the labours of successive botanists, 
so well understood, and can be described by characters so distinct, that the 
student, aided by the plates, will find little real difficulty in obtaining a good 
acquaintance with this interesting and useful tribe of plants. Some of the 
varieties require considerable attention, as those of some species are very 
different in appearance from the type from which they have varied; and 
some grasses described as species will probably yet be found to be but varie- 
ties, changed by accidental circumstances of soil or situation. With few 
exceptions, the characteristics of the grasses can be detected by the help of 
a good pocket-lens ; although a few genera, like those of Agrostis and Aira, 
IV.—)d 
