NORTH-OAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 137 



and wild pasture, the latter object is sacrificed, though it may 

 appear that less work or labor is consumed ; still, in the long 

 run, where lands are sold by measure, and their limits restric- 

 ted by lines and corners, the losses directly and indirectly 

 sustained more than counterbalance the gains accruing from 

 the use of indefinite, uncertain ranges. 



Another consideration bearing upon the cultivation of 

 grasses, may be regarded somewhat in the light of a duty. 

 Stock require a variety of food. The benefits of variety are 

 numerous. Health is one. The appetite is cloyed by con- 

 finement. Unman experience is a sure criterion by which 

 to determine the wants of the beast. Bacon is excellent food. 

 But who is not better satisfied with his diet, if a beefsteak 

 and a fowl help make up the routine of meals during the 

 week? Watch the feeding of a herd of cattle or a flock of 

 sheep, and it will at once satisfy the close observer, that they 

 seek variety, and doing so they but follow the promptings of 

 instinct. Grasses differ in value ; while the majority of them 

 are of the greatest importance to animals, some rank much 

 higher in the nutritive scale than others. The most nutritive 

 grow upon the best soils, the least either upon wet, cold soils, 

 or upon worn out ones. Let an intelligent planter see the 

 grass of a field, and he will tell you whether the soil is rich 

 or poor, cold or wet. They stand as indices of thrift or pov- 

 erty, industry or laziness, intelligence or ignorance. 



102. In the cultivation of grasses different objects are 

 had in view. Most grasses are particularly desired for their 

 nutritive properties, but some fulfil other functions. They 

 may be demanded for their ability to grow in sand, when 

 they perform the important office of confining it in its place. 

 Some make a good turf, and their strong matted roots protect 

 the soil and clothe the suface in a carpet of green. 



That the earth may be covered, and the marshes and 

 swamps productive in something useful to the lower forms, 

 there are coarser grasses created which are specially fitted for 

 such places. The Pheleum pratense, Poa trivialis, and indeed 

 most of the rich and nutritive ones are constitutionally unfitted 

 for the marsh. A rich, sweet grass with nutritive seeds, the 



