264 MANAGEMENT OF MEADOWS. 



There were Poa annua, the spear grass of Maine, but com- 

 mon on low lands in the State; Agrostis perennans, or Thin 

 grass, a plant peculiar to marshy places ; Phleum alpin- 

 um, Carex juncea, a rush-looking sedge, or rather a grass- 

 like sedge; Aira flexuosa, or wood hair grass, an ornamental 

 grass of the Northern latitudes ; Danthonia compressa, or 

 wild oat grass, and Trisetum molle, or downy persoon. Be- 

 sides these were many others not determined by any of the 

 botanists in the company. These grasses afford an immense 

 pasturage during the summer to vast herds of cattle that are 

 driven by the citizens for miles around to summer on them. 

 Gen. Wilder, who owns a large section of land there, in- 

 formed us the grass, when enclosed from the stock, grew to 

 the hight of four feet. Very many varieties existed, all 

 growing promiscuously together. This goes far to show 

 the great difference of the development of the species in 

 different localities, for at lower .altitudes, with the excep- 

 tion of the Carex juncea these grasses grow quite low. 



We think the lists given are sufficiently large to embrace 

 almost every wAt of a grass grower in Tennessee. We di- 

 rect special attention to No. 12 for use on some of the many 

 worn out fields resulting from cotton culture. They stare 

 at us on every side, and make an exceedingly unsightly ap- 

 pearance on a well ordered farm. The long creeping roots 

 will swing down into f he gullies and soon put a stop to 

 washes, and the immense herbage will, after a while, renew 

 the fertility of the soil. No. 10 is another mixture designed 

 for the same purpose. It is only a matter of judgment to 

 be exercised by the owner which he will take. No. 1 1 is a 

 good mixture to use for hay, a few years, but the blue grass 

 will ultimately master the others and will thrive on the 

 fertility induced by the others. Nos. 1 and 2 are regular 

 meadow grasses, amply proven by use in the New England 

 States, and number 3 is better adapted for orchards or thin 

 woodlands, especially lawns, too large to be devoted solely 

 to ornamental purposes. 



