338 



PRACTICAL BOTANY 



it difficult to grow hay to the best advantage or to maintain 

 good pastures in the South or (without irrigation) in the arid 

 portion of the Great Plains. 



The grasses most valuable for hay, like timothy and redtop, 

 are those which grow rather tall and contain much nutriment 

 in the stem and leaves, in the seeds, or in both. The best pas- 

 ture grasses, like the famous Kentucky blue grass, are those 

 which spread freely by rooting branches (stolons) from the 



a - 



FIG. 272. Vernal grass (Anthoxanthum) 



A, a one-flowered spikelet: a, 6, the outer empty glumes. , a spikelet with the 

 outer glumes removed: c, c, the inner empty glumes (neuter flowers), with long, 

 bristle-shaped appendages; d, e, palets; anth., anthers; stig., stigmas. C, dia- 

 gram of cross section of a spikelet : a, glume ; d, palet, within which are the sta- 

 mens and pistil. D, a fruit. All magnified. After Cosson and De Saint-Pierre 



base, and which finally mat together to form a compact turf, 

 not easily destroyed by trampling. Their nutritive value 

 must also be high. In poor soil or where lack of moisture or 

 too much shade makes vigorous growth of the best grasses 

 impossible, inferior but more hardy species may serve a useful 

 purpose. 1 



1 For other facts about common grasses consult Chapter XXIV. See 

 also Warren, Elements of Agriculture, chap. vii. The Macmillan Company, 

 New York. 



