OF TENNESSEE. 15 



dug up, but its rhizomes, or creeping roots, are in the ground 

 for yards around, and a piece left an inch long, is sufficient 

 to give it another start. The only way to destroy it is 

 by cultivation and seeding to a more vigorous grass. Japan 

 clover is said to have the quality of rooting out and destroy- 

 ing broom-sedge effectually, but has not received sufficient 

 trial to give it full credence. 



There is a simple method of separating the grasses from 

 these rushes and sedges, which will be briefly stated. 



The sheath of sedges is a hollow tube, through which the 

 stems pass, and it cannot be removed without tearing it 

 open. This is not the case with grass, as the sheath can be 

 stripped down, it being open to the joint. Besides, the 

 leaves of all grasses are two-ranked, that is, the stem has 

 leaves on each side, some opposite, others alternate, but 

 always only on two sides. The leaves of sedges are three- 

 ranked, or come out on three sides of the circle of a stem. 

 In other words, the stem forms a circle of 360 degrees. The 

 grass leaves are 180 degrees from each other, and the sedge 

 leaves are 120 degrees apart. 



In the grass-like rush the flowers are divided into six 

 points, within which are six stamens and a triangular ovary 

 containing three seeds. A grass has never but one seed to 

 the ovary. 



The object of this work is not merely to talk of the many 

 varieties of grasses and their wonderful beauty, but to add to 

 the intrinsic value of the farming lands of the State. The 

 ignorance of the difference between the many species of 

 grasses is vast and general. It pervades all classes and oc- 

 cupations. The farmer, himself, who depends so greatly on 

 this provision of nature, is not exempt from this want of 

 knowledge. Ask him the name of a grass of unusual char- 

 acter, and he will refer you, probably, to a son or daughter 

 who, he will tell you, has been studying botany. As for 

 him, he has no time to fool with such stuff. And yet this 

 want of knowledge has given a firm foothold to some of the 



