8 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



GRASSES. 



Name: When speaking of grasses one often includes such plants 

 as Rib Grass, Poverty Grass and Cotton Grass, which botanically 

 have none of the characteristics of true grasses. On the other hand, 

 many people do not regard Corn and Millet as true grasses. Agricul- 

 turally a distinction is made between cereals and grasses, but botan- 

 ically such a distinction is impossible, rye, barley, oats and wheat 

 being grasses as truly as Meadow Fescue, Red Top and Timothy. 



Seed: If with a sharp knife we cut through a corn grain, parallel 

 to its broadest side, we s ee that a great portion of it consists of a 



white or yellow mass, in which the naked 

 eye cannot discover any distinct structure. 

 This part of the grain, which in Fig. I is 

 marked End. is called endosperm and pro- 

 vides food for the young seedling. The 

 remaining part of the grain is dull-coloured, 

 and the naked eye can discern three dis- 

 tinct sections. This is the embryo or 

 young plant before germination. It con- 

 sists of a so-called cotyledon (Fig. I, Cot.) 

 which lies close to the endosperm, a ter- 

 minal bud (Fig. i, B.) from which the stem 

 and leaves of the germinating plant de- 

 velop, and a radicle (Fig. I, Rad.) from 

 which the first root is formed. The por- 

 tion lying between the radicle and the 

 terminal bud is the stem of the embryo. 



Fig. 1. Section through a 



grain of Corn. 

 Four times natural size. 

 End. Endosperm . 

 Cot. Cotyledon. 

 B Bud. 

 Rad. Radicle. 



Germination : When corn germinates 

 the cotyledon acts as a sucker, turning the 

 food in the endosperm over to the embryo ; 

 it remains enclosed in the grain during germination. The other parts 

 of the embryo soon become visible. The radicle develops into a root 

 and the bud soon displays a number of green leaves. The primary 

 root soon dies and its function is taken by secondary roots, which 

 sprout from the lower parts of the stem. The essential features of 

 this process of germination are characteristic of all grasses. 



Root System: Most fodder and pasture grasses are perennial; 

 that is, their underground parts survive from year to year. These 

 surviving parts consist of underground stems, from which roots and 

 overground stems develop. Sometimes they are creeping with long 



