THE AUTHOR'S PKEFACE. 



As is generally known a nnmber of books have been 

 written on grasses in onr owm country and .also in 

 lands beyond the sea. These furnish much valuable in- 

 formation with reference to grasses, but in all or near- 

 ly all of them, the tendency is to treat of grasses from 

 the standpoint of the botanist rather than from that of 

 the agriculturist. As far as the author has been able 

 to ascertain, no book has yet been written which takes 

 the economic grasses of this country in an orderly and 

 comprehensive succession, and points out to the farm- 

 er how to grow them. Much valuable information is 

 given in the agricultural press but it is more or less 

 fragmentary in character and in the nature of things 

 is soon lost to the view. Certain bulletins published 

 by the Agricultural Experiment Stations treat of grass- 

 es, but excellent as many of these are for the purpose 

 for which they were written, much of the information 

 which they give is only applicable to limited areas. 



It will be the aim in this book to discuss all the gTass- 

 es at present found in the United States and Canada 

 possessed of any considerable economic value, when 

 viewed from the standpoint of the needs of the stock- 

 man and the farmer. Thic discussion will include the 

 characteristics of each kind of grass, its adaptation to 

 climate and soil, place in the rotation, preparing the 



