192 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



FOUR MORE OP THE GRASSES. 



In accordance Avith an intention expressed in our 

 last number, we now present the reader with en- 

 gi'avings and brief descriptions of four more of the 

 grasses that may be profitably cultivated on our 

 New England farms, and three of which are al- 

 ready quite common. The cuts and descriptions 

 we are permitted to use by Mr. Secretary Flint, 

 as they were given in his recent work on "Grasses 

 atid Forage Plants." 



If these illustrations are preserved, they will 

 enable those who are not acquainied with the va- 

 rious grasses, to determine the names of some, 

 perhaps, already growing in their fields. 



THE MEADOW FESCUE GRASS. 



This is an excel 

 lent pasture grass 

 forming a very con 

 siderable portion o 

 the turf of old pas- 

 tures and fields, and 

 is more extensively 

 propagated and dif- 

 fused by the fact 

 that it ripens its 

 seed before most 

 other grasses are 

 cut, and sheds them 

 to spring up and 

 cover the gi'ound. 

 Its long and ten- 

 der leaves are 

 much relished by 

 cattle. It is never 

 or rarely sown in 

 this country, not- 

 withstanding its 

 gre^t and ac- 

 knowledged value 

 as a pasture 

 grass. If sown at 

 all, it should be 

 in mixture with 

 other grasses, as 

 orchard grass, rye 

 grass, or common 

 spear grass. It is 

 of much greater 

 value at the time 

 of flowering than 

 when the seed is 

 ri])e. It is said to 

 lose a little over 

 fifty per cent, of 

 its weight in dry- 

 ing for hay. 



MEADOW FOXTAIL. 



This is a valuable grass for pastures, on ac- 

 count of its early and rapid growth, and of its be- 

 ing greatly relished by stock of all kinds. The 

 stems and leaves are too few and light to make 



Jleadow Foxtail. 



Timothy, or Herds-Grass. 



it SO desirable as a field crop. It thrives best on 

 a rich, moist, strong soil, and the quantity of its 

 nutritive matter when raised on such soils is con- 

 siderably greater than on sandy soils. As a pas- 

 ture grass, its luxuriant aftermath, being in value 

 nearly one-fourth greater than its first spring 

 growth, recommends it still more highly. In this 

 respect it is superior to Timothy, the aftermath 

 of which is generally but slight. For lands de- 

 signed to be laid down to permanent pasture, it 

 will make a prominent part of the seed. Where 

 it occurs in fields, it loses largely its nutritive 

 value if cut in the blossom. It does not acquire 

 its full perfection and hold of the soil until three 

 or four years after being sown. The aftermath 

 exceeds the flowering crop in quantity as well as 

 in nutritive matter. The grass loses seventy per 

 cent, of its weight in drying, and the hay con- 

 tains about sixty-seven hundredths per cent, of 

 nitrogen. 



The seed of meadow fox-tail is covered with the 

 husks of the flower, soft and woolly, while the 

 larger valve is furnished with an awn. There are 



