CHAPTER VI. 



GRASSES. 



WHE Grass Crop is one of the three great crops ol the 

 country; and yet the means by which it maybe im- 

 proved and increased, are very little known. Some 

 sort of grass will grow upon almost any soil ; but the 

 most nutritive grasses, and the largest crops, can only be pro- 

 duced upon good, well-cultivated lands. 



This crop has two main purposes — hay and pasture. The 

 great point is, to select such seeds, and sow them in such pro 

 portions, as will best answer the purpose for which they are 

 intended. We will here speak of some of the more valuable 

 grasses, and their respective qualities. There are upwards of 

 three thousand species of grasses known to botanists ; but those 

 of agricultural value can be reduced within thirty species, 



ElCE Grass, of value in the South only, grows in wet 

 ground, and can be cut several times during the season. 



Meadow Foxtail — an early grass — productive, nutritious, 



with a luxuriant aftermath, which springs up immediately after 



cutting or cropping, and is a favorite with sheep and cattle. It 



does not take full possession of the soil for three or four years, 



and is therefore not suited to a rotation. It loses seventy per 



cent, of its weight in drying, and is injured by being cut in the 



blossom, and is therefore not in the first class for a field crop ; 



but, as a grass for permanent pastures, it is superior. It thrives 



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