CHAPTER V. 



VARIOUS CLASSIFICATIONS OF THE GRASSES. 



MANY of the grasses which have been described in 

 the preceding chapters possess but little value for the 

 purposes of cultivation, it is true, but it should not be 

 forgotten that they all have their uses ; and these uses 

 in the grand economy of nature are exceedingly im- 

 portant, however they may appear to our short-sighted 

 vision. 



No plant comes up to the sunlight, or expands its 

 beautiful leaves, that does not derive its support in 

 part from the atmosphere ; and, even though its life be 

 short, it adds materially, in its decay, to the vast mass 

 of vegetable mould which covers the surface of the 

 globe, and forms the richness of the soil. This surface 

 mould has been accumulating for ages in many locali- 

 ties ; every plant that grew in ages past bringing down 

 to us in a tangible form the riches with which the air 

 that surrounded it was stored, which now lie waiting 

 the farmers' use in meadows of exhaustless fertility, in 

 swamps and bogs of vast, increasing utility in our agri- 

 culture, and in beds of peat, the value of which we 

 have scarcely begun to appreciate. Thus, the grasses 

 which are not cultivated for their direct nutritive qual- 

 ities are not without their value, and they deserve our 

 careful study and attention. 



It is evident that various classifications of the grasses 

 may be made, and that many species might be separated 

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