496 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



the botanical treasures of our western wilde, that 

 he became familiarly known to the red men of the 

 forest, by the co<inomen of the " Man of Grass." 



Although 1 have i ut slender pretensions to the 

 significant title conferred by our aboriginal bre- 

 thren, on the unlbrtunate Scottish botanist,— I 

 have an idea, neveriheless, that those best ac- 

 quainted with my vegetable |)redilections, will be 

 prepared to expect, on this occasion, a discourse 

 on some such humble and terrestrial objects, — 

 rather than a Phaeton-like attempt to imitate my 

 successful colleagues, in traversing the ethereal 

 regions of intellect. They will doubtless con- 

 clude, that if it was sound advice to the cobbler, 

 not to venture beyond his last, — the culler of 

 simples should in like manner profit by the admo- 

 nition, and confine himself to his plants, I have 

 therefore selected a topic, for the evening, in ac- 

 accordance with these suggestions. Nor do I 

 consider the change in the entertainment— un- 

 palatable though it may be — altogether without 

 its advantages. There is a kind of analogy be- 

 tween the mind and stomach, in relation to their 

 sustenance: and, as the epicure finds it salutary, 

 at times, to substitute bran bread lor his habitual 

 dainties, — so the mind, which has been feasting 

 on intellectual delicacies, may peradventure be 

 benefited by an occasional transition to coarser 

 fare. At all events, it may enhance the gratifica- 

 tion of a return to its wonted enjoyments. 



I propose to attempt a cursory notice of the 

 character, properties, and importance to man, of 

 a single tribe, or family, of the vegetable crea- 

 tion — known to the naturalists by the name of 

 GraminecB, or the true Grasses : and while I 

 calculate with some confidence, upon a fellow- 

 feeling among '.he botanical portion of the audi- 

 ence, — I am not without a hope, that — in a district 

 so distinguished for its agricultural advancement — 

 the subject will also be found to possess a degree 

 of general interest. 



Before entering into particulars, however, it may 

 be useful to make some preliminary explanations, 

 — or, as the politicians say, to " define our posi- 

 tion.'- The term grass, in our vernacular tongue, 

 is frequently used in a vague sense — to designate 

 every kind of herbage found in our meadows and 

 pastures ; hence, we often hear people speak of 

 clover, lucerne, and other plants — which have 

 no botanical affinity whatever with the true grass- 

 es — as though they really belonged to that re- 

 markable tribe of vegetables. But such is not 

 the language of naturalists ; and ought not to be, 

 of any well-informed person. An accurate know- 

 ledge of objects can neither be acquired, nor com- 

 municated, without precision in the use of terms. 

 The distinctive characters of that family of plants, 

 of which we propose to treat, are now well un- 

 derstood, and have been salisfiiciorily defined. 



Whenever we meet with a plant, having a cy- 

 lindrical, jointed siem, with the joints solid, and 

 the intervening portions hollow — or, in a i'ew in- 

 stances, filled with a pith-like substance — the 

 leaves alternate, one originating at each joint, em- 

 bracing the stem with its base, and forming a 

 sheath which is slit on one side down to its origin 

 — and the flowers protected by those peculiar en- 

 velopes, known by the name of chaff— we may 

 take it for granted that we have before us a true 

 grass. Brief and simple as is this definition, it 

 will be found to contain the most obvious charac- 



teristics of the tribe ; sufficient, it is believed, to 

 distinguish it from all others. While we are on 

 the subject, however, a few additional traits may 

 perhaps be adverted to, with propriety. The 

 cuticle, or skin of the grasses (lor they have no 

 bark, properly so called) contains a considerable 

 portion of silex, as is shown by its vitrification, 

 when stacks or other dense masses of unthrashed 

 grain, are burnt. A sort of glass is produced fi-ora 

 this silex, vvh.ich preserves the form of the plant, 

 even to its minutest parts. The nerves, or veins, 

 in the leaves of this family, are all nearly parallel, 

 in consequence of which, those appendages (i. 

 e, the leaves) are entire, generally narrow, 

 enlongated, and more or less linear in their 

 form. The y?o?/!ers are mostly small, disposed in 

 little clusters of spil;eleis, and these spikelets are 

 variously arranged, in spikes, racemes, or loose 

 panicles. Each spikelet, — consisting sometimes of 

 one but more commonly of two, three, or many flo- 

 rets — is usually embraced, or supported at the base, 

 by two chafiy pieces, called glumes ; and each 

 floret is immediately protected by two somewhat 

 similar chaffy coverings, which for the sake of 

 distinction, are denominated palem. These chaf- 

 fy coverings of the flowers and seeds of the 

 grasses, are wholly unlike the delicate and showy 

 floral envelopes of most other plants, — and seem 

 to be, in fact, the mere stunted vestiges of 

 abortive leaves — or rather of their sheaths — close- 

 ly crowded together. Hence we find them, 

 like the leaves, consvan{\y alternate : for, although 

 approximated in pairs, they are never exactly 

 opposite — or originating in the same plane — as 

 we see to be the case with the sepals, and petals, 

 of other tribes. The number ol^ stamens is usually 

 three — rarely six, or some multiple of three — and 

 occasionally, Irom abortion, some intermediate, or 

 smaller number. Each fertile flower produces a 

 single seed,* — the chief bulk of whicli is called 

 albumen, and is that nutritious portion of our cul- 

 tivated grains, from which the miller prepares 

 flour. The embryo, or living rudiment of" the 

 iLiture plant is comparatively a mere speck, or 

 minute point, in the seeds of the grasses, — snug- 

 ly situated, on the outer side, near the base of the 

 albumen ; where it lies dormant, until the concur- 

 ring causes of vegetation (namely, warmth, moist- 

 ure, and oxygen,) excite it into active life. This 

 embryo — which is, in fact, an entire plant in 

 miniature — may be distinctly and satisfactorily ob- 

 served in a grain of wheat, or Indian corn; es- 

 pecially at the moment of sprouting, or incipient 

 growth, — when it will be found that the principal 

 mass of the grain consists of the apparently 

 inorganic matter, already mentioned by the name 

 of albumen. It is this large, farinaceous or 7nealy 

 portion, of the seeds of grasses, which renders the 

 cerealia, or cultivated grains, so valuable to man 

 — as furnishing the chief material for bread. 

 Wherever the albumen of seed is found to be 



* Tfie fruit of the grasses, generally, appears to be 

 a simple naked seed, in each fertile floret, — but the 

 seed is, in fact, invested with a pericarp, or covering, 

 as in most other plants. The pericarp in this family 

 however, is thin and membranaceous, — and is usually 

 so completely adherent to the proper coating of the 

 seed, as to be undistinguishable from it. In some 

 species — such as oats, barley, rice, &c. — there is found 

 an additional envelope, formed of the palece, or inner 

 i chaff, which closely embraces the fruit. 



