GRA 



GRA 



171 



of flowering ; and meadow cat's- 

 tail grass, {phleum pratense, called 

 in New-England herd'' s- grass, and 

 timothy grass, in the southern 

 States) affords most food when cut 

 at the time the seed is ripe. Sea 

 meadow-grass produces the great- 

 est quantity of aftermath. 



We shall add to this article a 

 concise description of some of the 

 most useful grasses, which have 

 been cultivated in the United 

 States, referring our readers to 

 longer and more elaborate treati- 

 ses for a more particular descrip- 

 tion of this class of vegetables. 



1. Tall Meadow Oat, or Tall- 

 oat-grass, Avena elatior. This 

 kind of grass was imported from 

 England, and has been cultivated 

 in Massachusetts, as well as in the 

 State of New- York and the south- 

 ern States. It is thus described by 

 Dr. Henry Muhlenberg, of Lan- 

 caster, in Pennsylvania. 



" This grass is of all others, the 

 earliest, latest, and best grass for 

 green fodder and hay ; it blossoms 

 about the middle of May, with red 

 clover, and the seed ripens a month 

 after. It grows but in a clover soil, 

 and rises to a height of from five to 

 seven feet — it ought to be cut for 

 hay in blossom, about the end of 

 May. The seed may be sown in 

 the fall or spring, with or without 

 grain, and must be brushed in or 

 lightly harrowed. If mixed with 

 clover it will make good upland 

 meadow. Horned cattle prefer 

 this grass to all others, but some 

 horses do not relish it green. It 

 must be pastured, or cut at least 

 three times in a season. If suffer- 

 ed to grow old, it will become 



straw-like ; when intended for hay 

 it must be salted." JVillich'>s Do- 

 mestic Encyclopadia, American ed. 

 vol. 1 1. p. 1 94. See likewise Mas- 

 sachusetts Agricultural Repository, 

 vol. III. p. 38, vol. IV. p. 11], and 

 p. 209. 



2. Tall Fescue Grass, Festuca 

 Elatior. Dr. Muhlenberg de- 

 scribes this grass as '- a native pe- 

 rennial grass of the United States, 

 it is very luxuriant and productive, 

 but rather coarse. Cows are fond 

 of it, but horses do not relish it. — 

 It grows in moist meadows, and in 

 woods. The leaves are broad, 

 stem very high, (sometimes 6 feet) 

 flowers in July." 



3. '■''Meadow Cat'' s- tail, Timothy - 

 grass, or Herds-grass, of the north- 

 ern States. {Phleum pratense) is 

 the grass most used for hay in 

 the northern States. It is also er- 

 roneously called /ox-/a?7; but this 

 is another grass. The cat's-tail 

 has a long head, somewhat resem- 

 bling the tail of a cat, with very 

 fine seeds ; the Fox tail has a 

 short bushy head, more like the 

 tail of a fox, with coarser seeds. — 

 In other respects they have consi- 

 derable resemblance. 



" Cat's-tail grows best in rich 

 moist soil ; but it will grow well, 

 for a few years, in a rich wet, or 

 a rich arable soil. In the rich wet 

 soil it gradually lessens in product ; 

 while at the same time it gives way 

 to wild grasses. In a rich arable 

 soil it gradually fails, by reason of 

 the ground becoming bound and 

 the sward thickened with other 

 grasses. Probably, if it were well 

 torn with the harrow in the spring, 

 and not too closely pastured in 



