162 Effective Farming 



root system contributes much to the structure and amelioration 

 of the soil. One hardly thinks of a farm without forage and 

 grazing. Most of the hay and pasture crops are perennial 

 grasses, but in California and other parts the annual grains, 

 as oats, may be grown and cured for hay. Many parts of the 

 country have good native pasture grasses. This is true of the 

 western plains. The South has few native grasses of the hay 

 and pasture type, but the introduced species supply the need. 

 In the Northeast, timothy grass, an introduction from the Old 

 World, is the most important single species. All the true 

 cereal grains belong to the grass family. Sorghum yields 

 much forage, as well as sirup and grain. The products 

 of agriculture are of two great classes, the crops and the ani- 

 mals ; horses, cattle, beef, swine, poultry, subsist largely on 

 the grasses and the grass-family grains. 



GRASSES 



94. Characteristics of grasses. The term " grass " is some- 

 what misleading. Botanically it means a member of a par- 

 ticular group of plants known as the grass family. In common 

 usage it is often applied to any plant that is cut for hay, in- 

 cluding legumes like clover and alfalfa, as well as certain sedge- 

 like plants often found growing wild. Corn, wheat, oats, bar- 

 ley, and rye are members of the grass family. As a rule they 

 are grown for the grain and straw, but are often cut for hay. 

 Some of the common characteristics of grasses are: (1) They 

 have a fibrous root system ; a comparison of the roots of wheat 

 and clover will show the numerous thread-like roots of the 

 one and the long tap-root of the other. (2) The stem, or 

 culm, has a smooth wall and may be hollow except at the nodes 

 or may be filled with pith ; the culm of most varieties of wheat 

 is hollow, that of corn is filled with pith. (3) The leaves are 

 parallel- veined, differing from the netted-veined leaves of 

 many plants. (4) The leaves are made up of three parts, the 

 sheath, blade, and ligule; the sheath starts from a node and 



