CHAPTER XVI 



GRASSES 



Grass is the forgiveness of nature her constant benediction. Fields 

 trampled with battle, saturated with blood, torn with the ruts of cannon, grow 

 green again with grass, and carnage is forgotten. Streets abandoned by traffic 

 become grass-grown like rural lanes, and are obliterated. Forests decay, 

 harvests perish, flowers vanish, but grass is immortal. JOHN JAMES INGALLS 



239. Grass is our most important crop. From the earliest 

 time pasture has been the basis of live-stock production. The 

 people who had good pastures had meat to eat, woolen clothes 

 to wear, and good horses with which to subdue nature and 

 conquer their enemies. It has been said that every civilization 

 has progressed over a grass sward. 



The steppes of Russia, the pampas of South America, the 

 broad reaches of Australia, and the vast plains of America are 

 the great pastures of the world and furnish most of the world's 

 live stock. 



The hay crop of the United States is exceeded in value by only 

 one other crop, namely corn. The 65,000,000 tons of hay pro- 

 duced annually in the United States can sustain our live stock 

 for only about one fourth of the year and must be supplemented 

 by the equivalent of about 200,000,000 tons of feed, in the 

 form of grain, forage, and pasturage. 



Perhaps 95 per cent of our hay is made from plants, such as 

 timothy, clover, alfalfa, cowpeas, and millet, which have been 

 introduced from foreign countries ; while more than 95 per cent 



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