GRASSES FEES 17 



not in use, and there must be good reason for this. Some 

 of the little used but recommended grasses are not easily 

 established. Sheep fescue, for example, I have always 

 found most difficult to establish in Ohio, though the few 

 plants that I have succeeded in getting have grown well. 

 So of a number of the other fescues ; while they may be 

 useful grasses in their place, yet the part they play in 

 American agriculture is negligible, with the exception of 

 Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis). While one may 

 doubt the wisdom of the individual farmer, here and there, 

 yet there is no denying that collectively, as a mass, they 

 have followed the lines of kast resistance and, as a rule, 

 found the plants that will give them best results. There 

 are exceptions to this rule. For example, in most of the 

 states north of the Ohio River brome grass (Bromus 

 inermis) seems to me to be the best of all pasture grass- 

 es, yet because it does not come of itself it is as yet al- 

 most never seen. So, too, the reed canary grass seems 

 unusually prolific and productive, but 'because of difficulty 

 in seeding it is seldom used. 



HOW GRASSES FEED. 



Grasses have wonderful root development. Their fine, 

 fibrous roots penetrate deeply into the soil and occupy 

 each tiny crevice. I have seen barley roots penetrate 8' 

 into loose loamy soil in California before the tops had 

 reached 12" in height. These tiny rootlets have great 

 power to absorb; some of them have power even to dis- 

 . solve. Grasses use a good deal of silica to stiffen their 

 stems. This silica is sometimes dissolved from grains of 

 quartz sand. Some silica-loving plants will even etch 



