166 Feeds and Feeding. 



The common variety at the North, known as Amber Cane, should 

 be more extensively used for soilage, and especially as a dry forage, 

 since it is highly palatable and greatly relished by horses, cattle, and 

 sheep. (434, 551, 765, 900) 



II. The Smaller Grasses. 



The great grain-bearing plants — Indian corn, wheat, rye, barley, 

 oats, rice, and the sorghums — are all members of the grass family, 

 being annuals and requiring careful cultivation. The smaller 

 grasses are nearly all perennials, thriving without cultivation and 

 producing roughage of high grade. In the humid regions Nature 

 everywhere spreads a carpet of soft, green grass that beautifies the 

 landscape and furnishes an abundance of palatable food for animals. 

 Even in the desert the grasses struggle for existence and yield rich 

 nutriment, tho in meager amount. For recuperating the soil and 

 binding it together and for furnishing food to man and the domestic 

 animals, the grasses are of supreme importance. In summertime in 

 those regions Avhere grasses flourish, the animals of the farm largely 

 care for themselves, and meat, milk, and wool are produced at the 

 minimum cost for labor. 



223. Blue-grass, Poa pratensis. — Kentucky blue-grass, or June 

 grass, is the common carpet grass of the northeastern United States, 

 easily ranking first for lawn and pasture. By its persistence it often 

 drives red clover, timothy, and other grasses from the meadows and 

 pastures, tenaciously, holding its own against all claimants. Table 

 III of the Appendix shows this grass to be the richest in the list 

 in digestible crude protein and fat, which helps to explain the 

 fondness for it show^n by stock. 



Blue-grass ripens in early summer, having largely gathered the 

 necessary food material from air and soil during the preceding late 

 summer and fall. With the coming of spring it pushes forward 

 so vigorously that early in May the fields wear a thick, nutritious 

 carpet of grass, and a little later the seed heads show. With seed 

 bearing late in May, the plant's energies have been exhausted, and 

 blue-grass enters a period of rest which lasts several weeks. During 

 this time there is little growth, and if a midsummer drought occurs 

 the plants turn brow^n and appear to be dying. They quickly re- 

 vive with the coming of the fall rains, and again the pastures are 

 green and growing. They have had their rest, and each plant is 

 once more busy gathering nourishment for the coming season's seed 

 bearing. The observant stockman soon learns that it is not wise 



