GRASSES. 147 



(Po« ti'icialis) and Wood Meadow grass (Poa nemoralis). If I 

 were experimenting, I should use by preference the Various- 

 leafed Fescue or "Wood Meadow grass. Where the lawn is small, 

 it looks best unbroken, but in those of considerable extent, 

 trees and shrubbery may be added to adorn it, and with these 

 ornamental grasses may be planted. There have been introduced 

 into cultivation many grasses of special beauty and attractiveness 

 which may be used with good eifect singly or in groups upon the 

 lawn. One of the finest of these and the most shoAvy when in 

 bloom, is the beautiful Pampas grass. ]SJ"othing surpasses the 

 elegance of its light and silvery-tinted plumes. Where they will 

 grow, some of the bamboos are used with good effect to deco- 

 rate the lawns ; and the large Arundo with its beautiful white- 

 striped leaves, and the more common Eulalia, and forms of our 

 own Phalaris, belong to the group of ornamentals. Tlien there 

 are finer and more delicate species sometimes used for borders, 

 and of these we may mention such as species of Love grass and 

 the elegant little Brizas. 



As in all families of any size or pretension we always find 

 among the good members composing it a few black sheep, so it is 

 with the grasses. As good as they are, as useful as they are, as 

 beautiful as they are, there are some which by their conduct, b}- 

 their selfishness, by their intrusiveness, have become obnoxious, 

 and we call them weeds. The worst of these which the Xew 

 England farmer has to contend with is Coucli grass. Tliere are 

 others, but we will not mention names in so goodly a company. 

 It sometimes happens that men who are very correct in all they 

 do under the restraint of home influences and are counted among 

 the elect, when removed from these influences, will stray from the 

 path of rectitude. So it is with grasses. Our much-loved Ken- 

 tucky Blue grass, which every one esteems as a good and useful 

 grass citizen, has received a bad name away from home. In Xew 

 Zealand and Australia its habits are such that it has come to be 

 looked upon as a vile weed — a lawless outcast, despised by 

 everybody. 



Your President suggested that I tell you something of what 

 we are doing in the Division of Agrostology. Well, the Division 

 is devoted to the investigation of grasses, and, in addition, to the 

 investigation of forage plants other than grasses. From what 

 I have said already, it is evident that the work is broad, and 



