(54) 



Its parentage is claimed by many States, and it is probably indig r 

 enous to some of them, though some authors say it was introduced 

 from Europe. Let that be as it may, it grows readily in all parts 

 of the United States north of latitude 40, and lower down on suit- 

 able soils. It flowers in earliest summer, and gives a rich pastur- 

 age, except in the driest months, all the year. It varies in size in- 

 different localities, according to soil and climate. From the unex- 

 ampled success its cultivation has met with in Kentucky, it has 

 acquired the name of Kentucky blue-grass. The June or wire 

 grass of the North is very much like it in general appearance, but 

 the seed stalk is flattened, and for this reason the botanical name 

 poa compressa is given. The seeds are not so fuzzy as those of the 

 Kentucky blue- grass. 



In all the middle portions of the United States it forms the prin- 

 cipal constituent of the turf. In some sections it has been used as 

 a hay, and from the analysis hereunto appended, it is full of all the 

 constituents of nutrition. But it is not a success as a meadow grass, 

 its chief excellence being exhibited as a pasture grass. It endures 

 the frosts of winter better than any other grass we have, and if al- 

 lowed to grow rank during the fall months, it will turn over and 

 hide beneath its covering the most luxuriant of winter croppings. 

 Many farmers pass their stock through the entire winter on it alone, 

 feeding only when the ground is covered with snow. 



As a lawn grass it stands pre-eminent among all others, its rich 

 Paris green foliage, its uniform growth and its constant verdure 

 making it beautiful both summer and winter. 



A farm well set in blue-grass will yield at least ten dollars pep 

 acre in grazing, and yet men who have farms with all the constitu- 

 ents necessary to produce the best of grass will persistently wear 

 them out in cultivation from year to year, with less net receipts by 

 far than the yield of a pasture. In the work on Wheat Culture, 

 issued from this office, it has been shown that a large proportion of 

 Middle and East Tennessee abounds in limestone rocks, in fact, it 

 underlies the Basin of Middle Tennessee and forms most of the 

 foundations of the Eastern mountains. The blue-grass of Ken- 

 tucky is made from soil produced by precisely the same strata of 

 rocks seen here. Any farmer having land showing an outcrop of 

 limestone with a grayish colored subsoil, may be assured he has the- 

 necessary soil. These rocks are looked upon as a curse, yet, with- 



