GRASSES. 141 



of the marshes, and the salt hay they furnish is a clear gift of 

 nature, costing little beyond the labor and expense of harvesting. 

 The cutting of the hay is determined more by convenience than 

 by the selection of time when it Avould be most valuable for 

 fodder, which would of course be when the principal grasses are 

 in bloom ; and the methods employed in harvesting are in many 

 cases, and sometimes of necessity, quite primitive. The hay is 

 cut, raked into small bundles, and carried to the stack, which is 

 usually supported upon a circle of piles, raising it above the tides. 

 During the winter season this hay is hauled away for use as 

 fodder or litter or mulch, or shipped to the larger towns for 

 packing purposes. On the higher and dryer marshes other 

 methods of harvesting may prevail. The characteristic grasses 

 of the marshes are the Spartinas. There are several species of 

 these, and several of them have a very wide distribution along 

 our coasts, and occur also upon the coasts of Europe. One of the 

 largest of these Spartinas, growing where there is a daily flow of 

 tide, chiefly along the ditches and creeks, is the common thatch 

 or creek sedge.' It is conspicuous by its size and its broad, 

 spreading, shining leaves. It imparts a disagreeable flavor to 

 the butter and milk from coavs fed upon it, and is rarely used for 

 fodder, but chiefly for thatch or litter. The finer variety of the 

 same species is more widely scattered over the marshes proper, 

 growing to the height of from one to two feet. This has nar- 

 rower, more erect leaves, and is of a lighter green color. Like 

 the large form, it imparts a disagreeable flavor to the milk from 

 cows eating it. Red-salt or Fox grass is another Spartina ; a 

 smaller species with wiry stems and slender leaves, and is one of 

 the best known of the grasses of the salt marsh, and one of the 

 most valuable. It makes fairly good hay where better cannot be 

 had, and is a particularly useful species for packing crockery and 

 glassware. The dioecious Spike grass, less known than the 

 others, but fairly common on the meadoAvs, also furnishes good 

 packing material. I saw this covering considerable areas on the 

 low marshes at Cape Cod, the male plants and the female plants 

 occupying separate areas, and conspicuous by the yellowish hue 

 which they gave to the vegetation. It is interesting to note that 

 the various grasses of the salt marshes do not ordinarily grow 

 intermingled, as do the species which compose our meadows and 

 pastures, but each holds exclusively areas of greater or less extent. 



