A DISCOURSE ON THE CHARACTER, PROPER- 

 TIES, AND IMPORTANCE TO MAN, OP THE 

 NATURAI^ FAMILY OF PLANTS CALLED GRA- 

 MINE.E, OR TRIjE grasses. 



(Concluded from last number.) 



But, revenons a nos moutons — let us return to 

 our grass seeds. 



ill some regions, where our common cultivated 

 grains do not succeed well — either from the cha- 

 racter of the climate or of the inhabitants— other 

 grasses are employed as substitutes. The seeds 

 of a tall aquatic grass, (Glyceriajfuitans, Br.,) 

 which grows s|)onianeously here as well as in the 

 old world, are used, in the north of Europe, as an 

 article of Ibod, under the name of manna seeds, or 

 manne de Prusse. In some parts of Asia, Africa 

 and the south of Europe, food is prepared from 

 [ the seeds of the several grasses which comprise 



the different kinds of millet, and a i'ew othersj* 

 but they are all inferior in value to the poorest of 

 our cercaU(B, or cultivated grains. The plant call- 

 ed millet, in this region (^Setaria Germanica? 

 JSeauv.,') is valued chiefly for its herbage, and 

 even that does not seem to command the atten- 

 tion of many farmers. The true millet — un- 

 known in our agriculture — is believed to be a spe- 

 cies of panicum, (P. miliaceum, L.); but there 

 are other kinds, nearly allied to our broom corn, 

 known by the names of Indian millet, (^Sorghum 

 vulgare, Pers.,) Guinea corn, (Sorghum cernu- 

 um, fVilld.,) chocolate corn, (Sorghum bicolor, 

 IVilld.,) &c. These have been cultivated here, 

 occasionally, but rather as articles of curiosity 

 than of agricultural importance. Our common 

 broom corn (^Sorghum saccharatum, Pers.,} is 

 cultivated, here, exclusively for the uses indicated 

 by its popular name, as already noticed, though 

 the stem contains much saccharine juice; and it 

 is sometimes raised in Italy for the purpose of 

 making sugar. The least valuable, perhaps, of 

 our cerealia — or those grasses which are culti- 

 vated here, lor the sake of the seeds — is the com- 

 mon oats (j^vena saliva, X.) This grain is 

 lighter and less perfect with us than it is in the 

 north of Europe, and is almost entirely appropri- 

 ated here to the feeding of domestic animals; but 

 in less favored climes, as already remarked, it 

 contributes largely, and directly, to the sustenance 

 of man. One of the many sarcasms upon the 

 Scotch, in which the great English lexicogra- 

 pher delighted to indulge, was his definition of 

 oats, as the food of horses in England, g,nd of men 

 in Scotland— as if the effects of climate were a fit 

 subject on which to taunt a people ! The better 

 quality ol" this grain is sometimes malted, when 

 the demand warrants or rewards the labor, and a 



* The seeds of the following grasses, also, are more 

 or less employed, in the old world, as substitutes for 

 the grains known to us, viz.: Triticum spelta, L., 

 (which has been sometimes cultivated by the Ger- 

 mans in this state under the name of spelt,) T. poloni- 

 cum, L., panicum frumentaceum, Roxb., Eleusine cora- 

 cana, Gartn. and E. stricta, Roxb. 

 Vol. IX.-48 



small portion is manufactured into meal, as an ar- 

 ticle of diet i'oT the sick ; but both these operations 

 are very limited in our country. 



Ascending in the scale of value, we next find 

 barley, (Hordeum vulgare, L.,') a grain which, in 

 some regions, is extensively used for bread, and 

 more or less as Ibod liar horses and other slock ; 

 but, in our own country, it is almost exclusively 

 employed in the mannlacture of a rich potation, 

 known to us all by the names of beer, ale and 

 porter. The immense crops produced m the mid- 

 dle and northern states, are nearly all destined 

 lor the breweries, — a comparatively small portion 

 being used in the distilleries. To prepare the 

 grain for these establishments, it must undergo 

 the process of malting, or incipient vegetation, in 

 order to form the sugar, which is the source of 

 the alcoholic strength of lermented and distilled 

 liquors. It is found that when seeds begin to ger- 

 minate, the farina or mealy portion is partly con- 

 verted into sugar, by diminishing its carbon and 

 augmenting the proportion of its hydrogen and 

 oxygen ; and this saccharine transmutation is pre- 

 cisely the operation of malting. The skill of the 

 malster consists in arresting the germination at 

 the critical moment, when the formation of sugar 

 is most complete and abundant. This he does 

 by drying it in a kiln. 



The grain next superior in importance, being 

 used to a considerable extent in making bread, is 

 rye, (Secale cereale, Z,.) In our own state, from 

 the force of custom, or prejudice, and the greater 

 abundance of wheat, we are in the habit of un- 

 dervaluing the bread made of this grain. But in 

 many districts, where the soil is better adapted to 

 the plant, rye is very generally used, and highly 

 esteemed. It is also employed to a most mis- 

 chievous extent, in the production of the ardent 

 spirit called whisky. In this case the preliminary 

 operation of malting, though sometimes practised, 

 is generally dispensed with, as being too costly. 

 The grain is merely chopped, or coarsely ground, 

 and, in conjunction with a small per centage ol" 

 malt, is subjected to fermentation ; by which pro- 

 cess, also, the farina loses a portion of its carbon, 

 and becomes sufficiently saccharine to yield large 

 quantities of impure alcohol. So great is the 

 amount of ardent [spirit procured from this grain, 

 and so tremendous the abuse resulting Irom the 

 practice, that it may be doubted, on the whole, 

 whether rye does not contribute more largely to 

 {he destruction than to the sustenance of human 

 life. Certain it is, that by the conversion of its 

 wholesome farina into an intoxicating draught, it 

 is made a potent instrument of physical and moral 

 evil — a most prolific source of disease, misery and 

 crime. All these mischiefi, however, arise from 

 the misapplication and abuse of a positive good, 

 lor which man himself must be held accountable, 

 and must expect the penalties inseparable from 

 lolly and wickedneis. 



The next most valuable plant, among the 

 cerealia, is perhaps our Indilan com (Zea mays, 

 L.) And, indeed, in the districts most favora- 

 ble to its culture, it may be said to rival wheat it- 



