IN THE MEADOW 49 



furnish food and shelter for countless numbers of insects, 

 birds, and other small animals. A country without grasses 

 would be a desert. 



It is to be regretted that many of our farmers do not de- 

 rive more profit from their meadows. On the continent of 

 Europe high meadows are regularly fertilized with short or 

 with liquid manure, and most low meadows are so laid out 

 that they are thoroughly drained and that they can be flooded 

 at any time. This flooding is done mostly on account of the 

 fertilizing substances which the water carries with it. 



NOTE. About grasses especially valuable in your state or vicinity, 

 consult the bulletins of your State Experiment Station. On Grasses 

 as Sand-binders for Lake and Ocean Shores, see Yearbook of the 

 Department of Agriculture, 1894. 



