GMSSES AND EOMGE PLANTS. 



I propose to speak of the grasses, a family of plants the 

 most extensive and the most beautiful, as well as the most 

 important to mankind. It embraces nearly a sixth part of the 

 whole vegetable kingdom ; it clothes the globe with perpetual 

 verdure, or adorns it at fixed seasons with a thick matted carpet 

 of green, none the less beautiful for i^s simplicity, and it nour- 

 ishes and sustains by far the greater part of the animals tliat 

 serve us and minister to our wants. 



When we consider the character of our climate, and the 

 necessity of stall feeding during five or six months of the year, 

 for which we are dependent mainly on the grasses, we shall see 

 that in an economical point of view, this subject is one of the 

 most important that can occupy the farmer's attention. 



The anniial value of the grass crop to the country, for 

 pasturage and hay together, is not less than $300^000,000. 



I shall endeavor to give a brief account of the natural history 

 or description of all the useful grasses found in our fields and 

 pastures, partly because it is essential to a complete under- 

 standing of the subject, and partly because there is at present 

 no popular treatise on the subject within the easy reach of our 

 farmers, and something of the kind is needed for reference ; 

 but I shall confine myself mainly to a plain and practical treat- 

 ment of the subject, making such suggestions as I think may 

 be useful, on the cultivation, cutting and curing of the grasses 

 for hay, the comparative value of the different varieties, and 

 the general management of grass lands. 



This subject, familiar to me from my earliest recollection, 

 has occupied my attention almost exclusively, during the past 



