FOOD FOR CATTLE. 67 



lake place, the stalk dries and becomes woody, hard, and less suitable bolh for mastication 

 and nourishment. We arrive at the same results, the period of maturity, by analysis ; for 

 example, it is found that the nutrient matter does not increase in the stem of the grass 

 after its blossoms are matured. These remarks of course apply only to those cases where 

 the stalk, and not the seed, is to be used as food. 



A character of the grasses, which is worthy of notice, is their mode of growth so as to 

 form a turf. This, however, is not universal. The coarse grasses, as the sedges, form 

 hummocks in marslies, but never a uniform surface. Rye, oats and wheat, never form 

 turf. This property belongs to timothy, red-top, and several others of the better kinds of 

 grasses. Besides giving to a landscape a superior beauty and elegance, an accumulation 

 of nutriment is secured at the surface, which, when the turf is broken and turned over, is 

 of the highest importance in the growth of many cultivated vegetables. It is a storehouse 

 of nutriment, which may have been accumulating many years. This grassy surface again 

 exerts an important influence upon the temperature, maintaining a more uniform state 

 and condition, and preventing wide fluctuations. So we ought to remember that turf 

 contributes largely to the stability of the earth's surface : rains and currents cease com- 

 paratively to wash and abrade or furrow the ground, and convenience is thereby secured ; 

 for what can a farmer do with a surface deeply channelled ? 



If we take a right view of the subject, we shall not probably form too high an estimate 

 of the functions which the grasses pferform in the economy of nature. We generally think 

 of them as fodder for cattle, arid in this light they are of the utmost importance ; but we 

 have seen that this is only a small item in the good they do, and in the services they per- 

 form. Though humble in their appearance and pretensions, they serve man's purpose in 

 the turf, in the temperature, and in the stability and permanence of the earth's surface. 

 To be impressed deeply with these facts, we have only to witness the moving sands of the 

 seashore, or of a desert. 



Grasses, when frequently cut or mown, become by the operation much finer than natural 

 in their texture : it is in this way that a smooth velvety lawn is formed, which possesses 

 80 much beauty in parks. This fine grass, however, is not a very valuable fodder : it is 

 fit only for the smaller and more tender herbivora, as lambs, calves, etc. 



Grasses, though really as important as represented, are probably not the most profitable 

 source of food for cattle. Many productions exceed the value of hay as fodder. Roots 

 and grain, even though cultivated at an expense far greater than that which attends the 

 cultivation and growth of timothy or red-top, still outrank them in profit and value. Still 

 there is no substitute, in the long run, for grass and pasturage in the present arrange- 

 ments : they will always form an important means of supporting our herds of cattle. 



The valuable grasses belong to several genera, in each of which there are several spe- 

 cies. Among the most important is the Phleum, of which there are two species in New- 

 York ; one of which, the pratensis, is the common timothy grass, known in New-England 

 under the name of foxtail. 



