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THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Whitetop may be known from redtop by the sheaths being rough to the touch from 

 above downwards, and the ligule being long and acute, and the keel of the large glume of 

 the calyx toothed nearly to the base. In Agrostis vulgaris the sheaths are smooth, ligule 

 short and obtuse, and the keel of the large glume toothed only on the upper part. 



It may be known from Brown Bent, (Agrostis comma,) by having an inner palea in its 

 floret, while in brown bent the inner palea is wanting. This grass is very common on the 

 Connecticut River meadows where it appears to be indigenous, and is there called the English 

 bent. Fiorin, (Agrostis stolonifera,} is only a variety, of the white top, or Agrostis alba, which 



gained great notoriety some years ago in Ireland and 

 England, volumes having been written in its praise, 

 while it received the execrations of those who found it 

 troublesome to eradicate on account of its creeping and 

 stoloniferous roots. It belongs peculiarly to moist places 

 which are occasionally overflowed. This grass has often 

 been used in the manufacture of bonnets, and is called 

 Dew grass in some sections. 



Hair Grass, or Fly Away Grass, Tickle 

 Grass, (Agrostis scabra,} is another species belonging to 

 this genus, with a panicle very loose and spreading, 

 purplish. Flowers in June and July. Mainly remark 

 able for the long hairy branches of its extremely loose 

 panicle. Common in old fields and drained swamps. 

 It is of no particular agricultural value. Very common 

 at the West, in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and about Lake 

 Superior. The large, loose panicles are exceedingly 

 delicate and brittle when the plant is ripe and dry, and 

 easily break away from the stalk when they are blown 

 about by the wind, scattering their seeds far and wide; 

 and hence it is frequently called &quot; Fly Away Grass.&quot; 

 This illustrates one of the admirable contrivances of 

 nature for the distribution of the seeds of grasses and 

 other plants; sometimes by means of birds, sometimes 

 by a sort of wing attached to the light seed, and some 

 times by the force of the wind alone, as in this case, 

 when plants start up where no seed had been sown by 

 the hand of man, and often to our astonishment. 



Alpine Brown Bent, Upright Flowered 

 Bent, and many other species of Agrostis might be 

 mentioned. Of all the species of this genus, the redtop 

 and white top are the most common as agricultural 

 grasses among us. 



The Fiorin, (Agrostis alba, var. Stolonifera lati- 

 folia,) or Broad-leaved Creeping Bent, has been more highly commended in Europe 

 than either of these. In experiments this last has been found to be inferior in nutritive value 

 to orchard grass and meadow fescue, (Festuca pratensis,) and superior to meadow foxtail 

 (Alopecurus pratensis). 



The Southern Bent, (Agrostis dispar,) has been highly extolled in France. It is a 

 native of the United States; was at one time highly commended in England, but was very 

 =soon discarded. It furnishes a hay of rather coarse quality, yields a large produce on 



SOUTHERN BENT. 



