FOOD AND GENEKAL TREATMENT. 407 



smaller and has a brighter, greener, look ; and there is this 

 difference, also, between it and the herd's-grass, that it mats 

 the ground very thickly with bottom leaves. It lasts through 

 the winter, and, under favorable circumstances, the roots will 

 not die for years. It sheds an abundance of seed in the sum- 

 mer and fall, and on soils adapted to its growth, if it once 

 secures a hold, it will overrun the country far and wide ; 

 and fields, pastures, door-yards, and roadsides, all alike be- 

 come carpeted with its soft, green texture. It is the most 

 beautiful grass in field or yard that grows. 



Blue-grass is also the most nutritious of the grasses, and 

 very sweet, so that stock of all kinds feed upon it with great 

 avidity, and thrive exceedingly. Upon limestone soils it 

 grows and spreads almost spontaneously, but upon others is 

 cultivated with considerable difiiculty. North of the latitude 

 of forty, or south of thirty-five, it does not flourish well. It 

 does not grow high enough to be of much value for any other 

 than grazing purposes, yet the tops may be easily cut off with 

 the scythe, and the seed saved, in the months of June and 

 July. 



Next after the blue-grass, come the clovers — the white and 

 red — which are so well known 'every- where that they need 

 no description. To both of them there are some objections 

 for pasture grasses. They act upon the salivary glands, and 

 cause an excessive flow of saliva from the mouth, producing 

 that debilitating and disagreeable affection known as slaver- 

 ing, or slobbering. The white clover is decidedly more ob- 

 jectionable in this respect than the red, and neither of them^ 

 should be allowed the horse when he is at hard labor. 



Although it is generally supposed to weaken the healthy 

 animal's strength, if the horse is diseased or in low condi-^ 

 tion, nothing will be of more benefit to him than a run upon 

 a good white clover-pasture. This increased action of thd 

 salivary glands, this slobbering, is not hurtful in his case, but 

 just the reverse. The red clover, while less nutritious than 

 the white, is more hardy, and in respect to quantity yields- 

 much better, whether of pasture or hay. 



% 



