GRA 



GRA 



there is no question of the nutritious- 

 ness, as large dairies, near cities, are 

 kept in full vigour and milk by them, 

 mixed with cut straw or hay, and pigs 

 rapidly fattened. A milcii cow re- 

 quires about one bushel daily. Grains 

 rapidly heat and putrefy if exposed to 

 air and a spring or summer heat, but 

 they may be readily preserved by the 

 following process described by Mr. 

 Youatt : 



" The grains are laid up in pits 

 lined with brick-work, set in cement, 

 from ten to twenty feet deep, and of 

 any convenient size. They are firm- 

 ly trodden down, and covered with a 

 layer of moist earth, eight or nine 

 inches thick, to keep out the rain and 

 frost in winter, and the heat in sum- 

 mer. The grains are, if possible, 

 thrown into the pit while warm and in 

 a state of fermentation, and they soon 

 turn sour ; but they are not liked the 

 worse by cattle on that account ; and 

 the air being perfectly excluded, the 

 fermentation cannot run on to putre- 

 faction. The dairymen say that the 

 slow and slight degree of fermenta- 

 tion which goes on tends to the 

 greater development of the saccha- 

 rine and nutritive principle ; and they 

 will have as large a stock on hand as 

 they can afford, and not open the pits 

 till they are compelled. It is not un- 

 common for two years to pass before 

 a pit of grains is touched ; and it is 

 said that some have lain nine years, 

 and been perfectly good at tbe expi- 

 ration of that period." 



Grains hare been used as manure 

 with great success. They are best 

 adapted to grass, wheat, corn, and 

 the cerealia generally : 20 bushels to 

 the acre are an abundant application. 

 Mr. Buckland, of Wales, produced 

 two and a half tons of hay ofl" land 

 formerly yielding but half a ton, by a 

 sprinkling of grains only. This re- 

 sult is to be expected, as the husk of 

 barley, &c., contains nearly all the 

 saline matters of the plant. 



GRAIN WEEVILS. See Wheat 

 In seels. 



GRAIP. A Scotch name for the 

 various kinds of forks used in hus- 

 bandry. 



G R A L L .E (from gralLr, suits). 

 The tribe of long-legged wading birds, 

 as the cranes, flamingo. 



GRAMA GRASS. A grass indi- 

 genous in the West Indies and in Mex- 

 ico, of small size, growing on poor 

 land, and bearing a very nutritious 

 grain, which it retains until spring. 

 It is highly recommended for culti- 

 vation in the Southern States. It 

 must not be confounded with the 

 <ram?na, or buffalo grass. From the 

 description given by Captain Cook, 

 United States Army, it appears to 

 be a stolon iferous grass, and peren- 

 nial. 



GRAMINACE.E. Gramineous 

 plants. Grasses. Endogenous plants, 

 in which the parts of fructification 

 are essentially perfect, although they 

 are in a very unusual state in what 

 may be called their accessory organs. 

 They have neither calyx nor corolla ; 

 but, in lieu of them, imbricated scales, 

 called palea; and glumes ; the latter 

 of which give rise to the name glu- 

 inaceous, often applied to these plants. 

 Corn of all kinds, the bamboo, the 

 sugar cane, many kinds of pasture 

 plants, and reeds, belong to different 

 species of Graminacea. The flinty 

 surface of the stems or straw renders 

 many valuable for domestic use, as 

 for forming the plat from which 

 straw bonnets, &c., are manufactu- 

 red. They constitute the most val- 

 uable family of plants for the suste- 

 nance of men and animals. They are 

 developed from the frigid zone to the 

 equator, increasing in size as they 

 proceed south. 



GRAMME. The unit of French 

 weights, equal to 15 43-1 troy grains. 

 The following is their decimal sys- 

 tem : 



Grammes. Troy ;n^iri3. 

 = ,001 = ,01543 

 = ,01 = 1.5434 

 = ,1 = 1,5434 



= 1, = 15,434 



= 10, = 154,34 

 = 100, = 1543.4 

 = 1000, = 15434 

 = 10000, = 154340 



The gramme equals the weight of 

 the hundredth part of a cubic metre 

 of distilled water at 32^ Fahrenheit. 

 The kilogramme is used for heavier 



333 



Milligramme 



Centigraninie 



Decigramme 



Gramme . . 



Decagramme 



Ilertograramo 



Kilogramme 



Mvriagramme 



