32 The Mea?is Grass and its Cultivation. 



growth. In the early part of last June, they were turned out 

 into a piece of rather moist, rich land, bordering on a peat 

 meadow, in which situation, after several weeks of stagnation 

 of increase in size, they suddenly took a favorable start, 

 throwing up strong stalks and a moderate supply of leaves, 

 and coming into blossom some time in September. Some of 

 the flower stems are lying before me, and present, as did 

 indeed the entire culms or stalks of the plant, a coarse, hard, 

 and reedy texture, quite unlike any of the grasses which are 

 considered valuable for hay. The heads of flowers were 

 very conspicuous, and attracted universal attention, consisting 

 of verticillate spikes, forming nodding heads {panicles) of a 

 rich, shining, yellow hue, which color, as well as a certain 

 satiny lustre, is lost as the seed matures, when the husks 

 have more or less of a dull, purplish tint. The first panicle 

 produced was almost entirely destitute of awns to the florets, 

 and misled me for a while as to its genus, which circum- 

 stance, I afterward discovered, was owing to the fact that 

 nearly all the florets were barren or abortive. As more pani- 

 cles were developed, the awns or beards were abundant, and 

 added much to the beauty of the flowers. Other and lateral 

 panicles were also produced, giving the upper part of the culm 

 a branching appearance. 



The two plants, when turned out of the pot, were about a 

 foot high, and had two or three stalks each. At the end of 

 the season, when the frost killed them, they measured, from 

 the ground to the topmost spikes, nearly seven feet, and had 

 thrown up more than thirty stout stems. As I was desirous 

 to secure their greatest possible growth, I did not cut them at 

 all, so no experiments were made on the " soiling" quality of 

 the grass. I should judge, however, from appearances, that it 

 would prove of little value among such a host of better grasses. 

 The leaves were three-bladed, with a stout midrib, resembling 

 those of Barn grass, or Cock's foot panic, (Echinochloa crus- 

 gdlli,) a troublesome succulent weed about our houses. Each 

 leaf measured about eighteen inches in length from the top 

 of the sheath, and about an inch wide. The bottoms of the 

 culms are furnished with strong and tough roots, similar to 

 those at the lower joints of Indian corn, {Zea mays.) These 

 strike deep into the soil, and render it difficult to pull up the 

 plants. Several strong stolones, or creeping, underground 



