40 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 



42. Salt marsh-grass is utilized for hay in many locali- 

 ties along the seacoast. Large areas of marsh land sub- 

 ject to the diurnal tides or to occasional high tides are 

 useful for no other purpose than the grass crop that they 

 produce. When utilized for hay these marshes are drained 

 by open ditches. In some cases the sea is kept out by 

 dikes, in which case the land becomes productive and 

 valuable. The hay from salt marshes is of considerable 

 value for fodder, the value depending on the kind of grass 

 and the degree of salinity of the soil. Much of this hay 

 is used for litter for stock and for packing-material. The 

 chief constitutents of salt marsh-hay are switch-grass 

 (Panicum virgatum), little bluestem (Andropogon scopa- 

 rius), black-grass, a kind of rush ( Juncus Gerardii Loisel.), 

 all of value for forage, and several species of Spartina, or 

 cord-grass (Spartina glabra and S. juncea being the 

 most important), these latter being used chiefly for 

 packing. 



TAME MEADOWS 



43. Tame meadows may be divided into two classes, 

 permanent and temporary. It is only to the former class 

 that the term meadow is popularly applied. 



Permanent meadows 



44. Permanent meadows are those that have been 

 seeded down with forage plants with the intention of 

 maintaining them for a series of years to produce hay. 

 The chief meadow plants used in the United States are: 

 of the legumes, alfalfa, red clover and to a limited 

 extent alsike clover; among the grasses, timothy and 

 redtop. 



