4 BULLETIN 772, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



in cultivated soil. They are usually of little importance as forage 

 plants. The sedges and rushes are not included in this bulletin. 



The cultivated grasses may be classified according to their use as 

 grains, forage grasses, sugar-producing grasses, textile grasses, soil 

 binders, lawn grasses, and ornamental grasses. 



Grains are those grasses whose fruit or grain is used for food or 

 for stock feed. The common grains are wheat, corn, oats, rye, bar- 

 ley, rice, sorghum, and millet. 



The forage grasses are those used for meadows, pastures', soiling, 

 and silage. 



Meadow grasses are those cut for hay. The chief meadow grasses 

 of the United States are (1) in the cool humid region, timothy, red- 

 top, orchard grass, and meadow fescue; (2) in the warm humid 

 region, Bermuda grass, Johnson grass, and (in Florida) Natal grass: 

 (3) in the dry area east of the Great Plains, millet and sorghum 

 (including its varieties, such as kafir and Sudan grass) ; (4) in 

 the northern part of the Great Plains, brome-grass ; (5) on the Pa- 

 cific coast, wheat, oats, and barley for the production of grain hay. 



Wild hay is chiefly from three sources: (1) Prairie hay from the 

 region lying just east of the Great Plains, including various native 

 species such as big bluestem (Andropogon furcatm}* little bluestem 

 (A. scoparius), Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), and switch- 

 grass (Panicum virgatum) ; (2) fresh marsh hay from the region be- 

 tween the Dakotas and Michigan, including chiefly bluejoint (Cala- 

 magrostis canadensis) , reed canary grass (Phalams ammdinacea) , 

 and slough-grass (Beckmannia erucaeformis) ; and (3) salt marsh 

 hay used mostly for bedding and for packing, including usually salt- 

 marsh grass (Spartina patens) and black-grass (a kind of rush, 

 Juncus gerardi). 



Pasture grasses are those that furnish forage to grazing animals. 

 The two most important cultivated pasture grasses of the United 

 States are bluegrass in the Northern States and Bermuda grass in 

 the South. The meadow grasses are also used for pasture, and in 

 the Gulf States carpet grass is of some importance. 



The wild grasses used for grazing are commonly called range 

 grasses. The most important are (1) on the Great Plains, buffalo 

 grass, curly mesquite, and grama (Bouteloua grac'dis and B. hirsuta) ; 

 (2) in the Southwest, several species of grama (Bouteloua), Hilaria, 

 and Sporobolus airoides; (3) in the mountain regions, pine-grass, 

 blue bunch-grass, and mountain bunch-grass (in Oregon) ; Arizona 

 fescue (in northern Arizona) ; and the wheat-grasses (in the Rocky 

 Mountains). 



Soiling grasses, those cut and fed green, include the common small 

 grains, corn, and the sorghums, and (locally in the South) pearl 

 millet and teosinte. 



