THE FLOWERING OF THE GRASSES. 65 



nature, the grasses, though degenerate, are admirably 

 adapted to their particular station. The great secrets of 

 their success are probably three in number. First, they 

 have a general shape, which allows them admirably to 

 fill up all the cricks and corners between other plants 

 to economize any bit of waste space which no other 

 competitor has seized upon ; and in perfectly wild or 

 tangled countries this is really their main function in 

 the complex balance of vegetable life. Secondly, they 

 have an immense number of flowers stowed away in the 

 smallest possible space, and fertilized in a very cheap 

 and simple manner by the wind. And thirdly, they 

 have learned to produce only one seed from each flower, 

 in the shape of a single grain, more richly stored with 

 food -stuffs for the young plant than those of almost any 

 other species. One rich seed is worth more in the 

 struggle for life than twenty poor ones. It is this last 

 peculiarity that makes the grasses so largely cultivated 

 by man. What feeds young plants will fed animals 

 also. We grow wheat, barley, oats, rye, Indian corn, 

 rice, and millet for our own use ; and we grow almost 

 all other kinds of grasses for our cattle and horses. Of 

 course, everybody knows that hay is cut just when these 

 rich seeds are at their prime, and it is comparatively 

 valueless if allowed to grow over-ripe so that the grain 

 falls out on to the ground below. Besides these main 

 points, however, grasses as a group have a hundred 

 minor adaptations, which give them special advantages 

 in the race for the possession of the earth ; and, as to 

 each particular grass, it has so many little tricks and 

 devices of its own, that if I were to try to tell you all 

 about the hairs and awns and bristles on this single bit 

 of brome or of foxtail, we might sit here talking all the 

 afternoon, and even then not have finished. 



