THE GRASS QUESTION. 205 



it was not until the list of grasses was largely increased 

 and root culture extended, that Britisli agriculture began 

 to develop, for not till then were there increased oppor- 

 tunities for the extension of grazing and the winter sub- 

 sistence of cattle. Red Top is another American grass, 

 first cultivated about 1760, by the colonists. It was 

 soon followed by the introduction to cultivation of Ken- 

 tucky Blue grass, and, subsequently, Orchard grass. 



It will be noticed that the United States furnished 

 four out of the five principal hay and pasturage pro- 

 ducers used in agricultural practice; the fourth, Red 

 Clover, being a native of Asia. It cannot be doubted 

 that there yet remain others to be brought into 

 cultivation. 



An observation of the varieties of grasses blooming 

 in a pasture will not serve to determine the quality of 

 the sward, for cattle, eating off the most palatable sorts, 

 prevent them from reaching a condition of inflorescence. 

 Thus, those valuable varieties which perpetuate them- 

 selves by seed, sometimes tend to run out, leaving the 

 field to the more unpalatable sorts, but not always, for 

 nature provides, in the cases of some grasses, that varie- 

 ties not reaching a condition of seed- bearing, shall per- 

 petuate themselves by abnormal root budding. 



Much can be determined of the components of a 

 pasturage sward by a study of the structural character of 

 the plants, even when grazed down to one inch. In Ger- 

 many so much attention has been paid to the analysis of 

 pasturage grasses and the description of varieties, that 

 the subject is no longer a novel one. By such analyses, 

 perennial grasses are distinguished from annual- by the 

 crowns and roots ; crowns of perennial varieties bearing 

 relics of the preceding year's growth, while to the roots 

 are attached creeping underground bud stems. A third 

 test can be made by dissection of the stalks, for in peren- 

 nials only a few embryo flowers will be found, while 



