^ 



.XEi.LEC JED BE A UTIES. 



same conditions and surroundings, as nearly as circumstances will permit. When Ferns, or 

 indeed any plants, are collected at a distance, they should be wrapped in a closely-woven 

 wet cloth, both roots and fronds, and the bundle wrapped in another hut dryer cloth, for 

 transiDortation. Two common handkerchiefs, one wet and the other dry, will serve the 

 purpose very well. In this way they can be safely carried long journeys, while for 

 shorter distances, paper wrappings will suffice. 





aRJ^SSiJS. 



'j'inS Older of plants, scientifically designated, from the Latin, Gramines, 



one of the most useful of nature's products for the support of ani- 

 al life, and is coextensive with the animal kingdom, being found 

 almost everywhere. In tropical and subtropical climates, some of the 

 (glasses assume a tree-like appearance, as the Bamboo, Sugar Cane, 

 and Indian Corn. Wheat, Oat, Barley, Rye, Rice and some others 

 i-h the staple food for the great majority of mankind; and most domestic 

 .I', well as many wild animals derive their sustenance from these and other 

 members of the Grass family. And as the human family depends largely 

 upon these animals for food and clothing, it is not easy to conceive, much less 

 to estimate how much the world owes to the two hundred and ninety-one 

 genera and three thousand eight hundred species of the grass family. In this 

 large array there is but one species that is not nutritious; this is known as Lolium temu- 

 lentum, or poisonous Darnel Grass, which fortunately is not very plentiful. Where 

 found, its rough exterior and bitter taste are repulsive to animals, and therefore its destruc- 

 tive powers are but little felt. Our home surroundings are often beautified by the short- 

 cropped lawn Grasses, making a delightful natural carpet for children's play, as well as a 

 pleasing object for the eye to rest upon. Though far removed from the gaudy and bril- 

 liant colorings of the Tulip, and for the most part but simple, unpretending plants, the 

 Grasses possess a modest beauty all their own, or shared only with the Ferns. The 

 florists and collectors have been busy for some time in bringing together the Grasses from 

 distant parts of the world, and an admirer might now collect in his yard or window 

 enough of specimen Grasses to effectively aid his children in their geography lesson-, 

 on the well-known principle of association of ideas. For instance, he might say this Grass 

 in our southwest coiner is from New Zealand; that in the southeast is from Australia; 

 that other in the extreme east is from Japan; the next to the west is from China. And 

 thus he might form the circuit of the whole world, pointing consecutively to the Grasses 

 of India, Persia, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Azores, West Indies and 

 America. Many of the Grasses are well adapted for indoor culture, and all for outdoor, 

 in their proper climatic surroundings. Among the verv choicest of the former are 

 Panicum variegatum, which presents transformations of color equally singular and beau- 

 tiful ; the Isolepsis gracilis, with its bright-green, wiry leaves, adapted to borders in 



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