AND OTHER FORAGE PLANTS. o3 



with perennial roots : culms creeping at the base, one to three 

 feet long , panicle erect, narrow, nearly simple ; spikelets round- 

 ed, five- to nine-flowered, half inch long, pale, leaves short, 

 sharp pointed, pale green. It is of little agricultural value from 

 the fact that although nutritious, it cannot be mowed or culti- 

 vated conveniently, growing as it does in water. 



3. G. FLTJITANS, Common Manna Grass, or Floating Manna 

 Grass, growing in shallow water, produces culms from one to 

 five feet long with panicle one foot long in June or July, from 

 the perennial, creeping roots ; leaves long, broadly linear. It 

 differs from the other species markedly in its slender long pan- 

 icle and few long linear spikelets. It grows in cultivation on 

 permanently moist lands, and its yield compares favorably with 

 many other good grasses. It is cultivated in France and many 

 other portions of Europe. The seeds whole or ground into 

 meal or flour are nourishing and used in soups and broths 

 This grass is eaten with avidity by horses, cattle, sheep and 

 swine, and the seeds by birds. 



4. G. RIGIDA, another species indigenous also to the southern 

 States and growing on dry soils, seems to possess little value 

 and attract no attention. 



Several other species o manna grass are native in our eastern 

 and northern States; but none of them native or cultivated in 

 the south, except the 



5. G. CANADENSIS, Rattlesnake grass sometimes found in 

 gardens. It has a long, pyramidal, spreading panicle, with 

 handsome, drooping spikelets ; has the general appearance of 

 quaking grass ; and is used for bouquets and vases. It is of little 

 agricultural value. 



POA. 



I. P. PKATENSIS, Kentucky Blue Grass. 



This is called also smooth meado w grass, spear grass, and 

 green grass, all three very appropriate, characteristic names. 

 Blue is a misnomer for this grass. It is not blue, but 'green as 

 grass' and the greenest of grasses. The P. compressa, flat-stalk- 

 ed meadow grass, wire grass, blue grass is blue, the 'true blue' 

 grass from which the genus received its trivial name. 



Kentucky blue grass, known also in the eastern States as June 

 grass, although esteemed in some parts of America as the best 

 of all pasture grasses, seems not to be considerered very valua- 

 ble among English farmers except in mixtures. It ts certainly 

 a very desirable pasture grass however. Its very narrow leaves, 

 one, two or more feet long, are in such profusion and cover the 

 ground to such depth with their luxuriant growth that a mere 

 description could give no one an adequate idea of its beauty, 



mianfifiT- onrl Trolno V>+ TO. /->*-> ,nV lonrl On rknnr sanrlv land 



