10 INTRODUCTION. 



our fields and pastures, partly because it is essential to 

 a complete understanding of the subject, and partly 

 because there is at present no popular treatise on the 

 subject within the easy reach of our farmers, and some- 

 thing of the kind is needed for reference ; but I shall 

 confine myself mainly to a plain and practical treatment 

 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 has long been familiar to me, and has 

 especially occupied my attention for the last few years, 

 during which I have made an extensive collection, em- 

 bracing a large proportion of the varieties described in 

 the following pages, for preservation in the Agricultural 

 Museum connected with my office. In addition to my 

 own extensive observations on the subject, I have 

 sought information in the statements of intelligent 

 farmers in different parts of the country. Many of these 

 I have myself conversed with, while others have favored 

 me, in writing, with the results of their own experience, 

 from which I shall draw with a liberal hand, for the 

 purpose of giving the work a practical character, and 

 of bringing the subject home to the general reader. In 

 treating of the natural grasses, I shall limit myself 

 mainly to a description of those species which it may 

 be for the interest of the farmer to cultivate, or at 

 least to encourage in his pastures, with such others as 

 should be known, to be avoided. 



In the arrangement of species I shall follow mainly 

 the natural order adopted by Professor Gray, to whom, 

 as well as to many others, I am indebted for no small 

 assistance, in studying the specific characteristics of 

 many of the specimens collected and presented in the 

 following pages. 



