166 THE GRASSES OF TENNESSEE. 



In the work on Wheat Culture, issued from this office, it 

 has been shown that a large proportion of Middle and East 

 Tennessee abounds in limestone rocks, in fact, it underlies 

 the basin of Middle Tennessee and forms most of the founda- 

 tions of the Eastern mountains. The Blue Grass of Ken- 

 tucky is made from soil produced by precisely the same 

 strata of rocks here seen. Any farmer having land show- 

 ing an outcrop of limestone/ may be assured he has the nec- 

 essary soil. These rocks are looked upon as a curse; yet, 

 without their preseuce, we could not have the magnificent 

 parks of blue grass seen around 



Never was a time more propitious than the present for 

 securing a fine blue grass farm. The depreciation of the 

 price of land is unequalled in our time. Its intrinsic value 

 is as great as ever, and farms, favorably located, can now 

 be bought for from ten to twenty-five dollars per acre, that 

 would, after being stocked with this grass, bring from forty 

 to fifty dollars per acre. Our hillsides are the best for it, 

 as the crumbling debris from the degradation of the rocks, 

 carried down by rains, will be a perpetual top-dressing to 

 the pastures. Besides, a dry, rich soil is better suited to its 

 production. No level country could produce so continually 

 good blue grass, from the simple fact, it could not receive 

 regular supplies of lime as a stimulant to the soil. 



These lands do not exist everywhere in the United States, 

 and that should increase their value. They will be in de- 

 mand, and that soon. The tide of immigration is already set 

 towards us, and the thrifty sons of the North will readily 

 see the great advantage of these limestone soils and secure 

 them. The wild grasses that now are such an attraction to 

 immigrants, on the table-lands' of Tennessee, will ultimate- 

 ly be exhausted by the increase in population, while the de- 

 mand for food and every variety of 'domestic animals will 

 be proportionably augmented according to the great increase 

 of the population. Then every acre of land that will pro- 

 duce Blue Grass, will be in active demand and will be de- 



