CHAPTER II 



ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION OF GRASSES 



According to their uses, grasses may be classified into 

 three main divisions, — grains, forage plants and lawn 

 grasses; and four minor divisions, — ornamentals, soil- 

 binders, sugar-producing grasses, and textile grasses, 

 leaving a few unclassified. Another category of grasses, 

 the weeds, being the antithesis of useful plants, might be 

 included under economic grasses. A special chapter is 

 devoted to them (Chapter IX). 



6. The term grain is applied to those grasses whose 

 fruit is used for food or for stock-feed. The fruit or seed 

 is technically a caryopsis (Par. 162), or in popular lan- 

 guage, a grain. The common grains are corn, sorghum, 

 wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, millet. 



7. Uses of the grains for food. — The seeds are rich in 

 starch and usually contain also a considerable quantity 

 of protein. For this reason they are eminently fitted for 

 use as food. In the United States, the grain of sorghum 

 and millet is not used for human food, although both are 

 extensively used for this purpose in some parts of the Old 

 World, especially among primitive peoples. Oats, rye 

 and barley, thou,2;h used to a limited extent, are of secon- 

 dary importance as food plants in America. The other 

 three grains, wheat, corn, and rice, are of fundamental 



(6) 



