OF THE 



UNIVERSITY 



P R E F A C E. 



A WANT has long been felt of some simple and 

 attractive guide to the identification of the common 

 pasture grasses by their leaves. Mr M 'ALPINE has at 

 length devised a means by Which they can be 

 definitely classified and presented to the student of 

 nature, in such a way that no doubt is left as to the 

 identity of any of our common grasses, at any season 

 of the year. In practical experience it has long been 

 felt that in determining the quality of a pasture, a 

 judgment formed from the appearance of a field, 

 when the grasses are in flower, is most unsatisfactory. 

 If land is grazed, stock naturally eat the grasses they 

 prefer, so that the best grasses are rarely permitted 

 to run to seed to any extent, and they are, con- 

 sequently, liable to become less abundant, unless they 

 are enabled to extend and perpetuate their species 

 by lateral root budding. A tendency to this is 

 fostered, even among annual grasses, when they are 

 prevented from completing their natural cycle of life 

 and coming to maturity in the one season. Inferior 

 grasses, on the other hand, are neglected by stock, 



