PREFACE. 



This is a practical work on grasses, prepared by a practical man, for 

 practical farmers. The basis of the work is the author's experience on 

 his own farm, supplemented by his observations of the making of 

 meadows and pastures in nearly every state and territory in the Union. 

 This experience and these observations have been fortified by a diligent 

 study of the literature on grasses in this country, and from Great Britain 

 as well. 



Among the works, which have afforded him the greatest aid are the 

 bulletins issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, and by 

 the various experiment stations. He is especially indebted to F. L/amson- 

 Scribner, probably the most accomplished agrostologist in America, for 

 many years botanist of the Tennessee station, now of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. The works of Rev. C. W. Howard, of Geor- 

 gia; of Dr. Phares, of Mississippi; of Dr. Gattinger, of Tennessee; of 

 Prof. J. Stanton Gould, of New York; of Prof. C. L. Flint, of Massachu- 

 setts; of Prof. Beal, of Michigan; of Edmund Murphy, of Ireland and 

 Margaret Flues, of England, have been freely consulted, and to all of 

 them the writer acknowledges his indebtedness for valuable, practical sug- 

 gestions. In addition to these the agricultural reports of the various 

 states have been consulted. The old files of the "Rural Sun" contain 

 many admirable articles on the grasses, and these have been frequently 

 used. 



The author hopes that this work will meet the demands of many 

 farmers of Tennessee, who are anxious to enter more extensively upon 

 the cultivation of the grasses, and that it will supplement the excellent 

 scientific work already done by our Experiment Station to the great ben- 

 efit of agriculture in Tennessee. J. B. KILLEBREW. 



