lOG 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



[From D. H. "Wlieeler, Nebraska.] 

 No. of anal. 

 59. Andropogon furcatus. Blue-joiut. 



[From "W. S. KoLertson, Muscogee, Ind. T.] 



66. Aristida pu7'pure7i8. Purple beard- 



grass. 



67. Androjiogon argenteus. Silver beard- 



grass." 

 G8» Scirpus ei'io])horum. Woolly sedge- 

 grass. 



69. TJniola lalifoUa. Fescue grass. 



70. Fanicum agrostoides. Marsli panic. 



71. Sorglmmnutaus. , 



72. Tricuspis purpurea. Purple tricuspia. 



73. Ehjmvs Canadensis. Wild rye-grass. 



74. Spartina cynosur aides. WMp-grass. 



75. Andropogon scoparius. 



76. Fanicum capillare. Witcli-gfass. 



77. Andropogon fvrcatus. 



78. Cinna arundinacea. Recd-grass. 



No. of anal. 



79. Fanicum virgaium (tall). Pauic-grasa. 



80. Fanicmnvirgatum{shLOxi). Panic-grass. 



[From Cyrus G. Pringle, Cliarlotto, Vt.] 



81. Danihonia compressa. Wild-oat grass. 



82. Glyceria aquatica. Reed meadow-grass. 



83. GIgcm-ia nervata. 



84. Avena slriata. Mouutain oat-grass. 



[From J. "W. Sanborn, Hanover, N. H.] 



85. Hay, cbieiiy timotby, cut ten days be- 



fore bloom. 



86. The same, cut while in bloom. 



87. The same, cut after bloom, 



90. The same, cut while in bloom. 



91. The same, cut after bloom. 



[From , S. C] 



88. FhaJaris intermedia var angusta, Amer- 



ican canary -grass. 



DESCRIPTION OF TABLE I. 



In Tal)le I the proximate analyses of the grasses examined during tlie 

 past year are given in detail, in a similar manner to tiiose published in 

 the report for 1878, but modified in a few particulars. 



The figures for ash were obtained by burning the jylant and weigh- 

 ing the crude ash, instead of determining it pure and sand free, as was 

 done last year. The complete analysis of the ash has been given up 

 as not repaying the labor involved. 



The ether extract, or fatyhas not been separated into wax, fat, and chlo- 

 rophyl, but is given as. a whole. 



The 80 per cent, alcohol extract has been made more comi)lete by the 

 use of the apparatus figured and described in this report. The action 

 of the alcohol was continued fourteen hours, and, after weighing the ex- 

 tractive matter, dried at lOO'^ C, a separation of the resinous matter 

 from those constituents soluble in water has been attempted. The resins 

 ai-e probably of small nutritive value, while the x^oiiion of the extract 

 soluble in water, con.sisting chiefly of sugar with the soluble nitroge- 

 nous matt(?i', is one of the most imT)ortant joarts of the plant. 



The gum has been extracted as usual by percolation with hot water. 



The treatment of the grass with 2 per cent, soda solution before that 

 with acid, which was tried in a few grasses — Kos. 34—12 — has given way 

 to the more universally applicable method of boiling first with 2 per 

 cent. acid. 



Instead of making a direct estimation of the acid extract by neutral- 

 ization and evaporation, an aliquot portion has been titrated mth Fehl- 

 ing's solution and the cuprous oxide obtained calculated to starch and 

 stated as starch isomers. That the grasses contain only minute quan- 

 tities of actual starch is well known. They contain, however, substances 

 which are convertible by acid into products which raduce Fehling's so- 

 lution, nnd at the same time others, probably allied to the jiectous sub- 

 stances, which, although extracted by acids, have no effect on Fehling's 

 solution. 



In the statement of the analyses, the separation of the two classes 

 seems to be desirable, the latter being included with the alkali extract 

 or undetermined portion of the grass and being of small nutritive value. 



The crude fiber given in the table v/as estimated in a different manner 

 from the cellulose of last year. It consists of the ash-free residue of 



