2 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 
this family belong the grains, such as wheat, corn, and 
rice, that furnish the bulk of the vegetable food of the 
world for man, and feed for stock; the greater part of the 
pasture and meadow plants that furnish forage and hay; 
and many large grasses such as the sugar-cane, the sor- 
ghum, and the bamboos that are not usually classed with 
this family by those who are not botanists. 
1. Agrostology—Agrostology is that branch of botany 
which treats of grasses. The term is derived from two 
Greek words, agrostis (@ypostis from 4aypés, a field) a 
kind of grass, and logos (Aoyos) speech. The subject is 
usually divided into two branches, economic agrostology 
and systematic agrostology. Like any other branch of 
botany, agrostology can be considered also from the 
standpoint of anatomy, morphology, or physiology. Up 
to the present time the study of grasses from these stand- 
points has not received distinctive recognition but has 
been merged with the anatomy, morphology, and physiol- 
ogy of plants in general, or has been included in syste- 
matic agrostology. 
2. Economic agrostology.—This is that branch of 
economic botany which treats of grasses, or it is that 
branch of agrostology which treats of the uses of grasses. 
The uses of the grasses and their products are so many and 
various and touch so many industries that it is necessary 
to define the limits of the subject as it will be considered 
in this work. It is intended so far as practicable to 
restrict the discussion of economic agrostology to its 
botanical phases. The methods of growing grasses, that 
is, cultural methods, belong more properly, in case of the 
field crops, to agronomy; or, in case of the ornamental 
species to horticulture. The methods of obtaining the 
products of grasses and the course of the products after 
