280 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



Bed-top or herds-grass (Agrostis vulgaris) delights in a 

 moist soil, and with this grows well on a soil of almost 

 any texture. It should not be omitted in a pasture soil 

 fitted to it. Although it is not quite as nutritious as June- 

 grass, yet it makes good pasture, and very good stock hay. 



Sweet-scented vernal grass (Anthroxanthum odoratum) is 

 by some considered an excellent pasture-grass, which ex- 

 hales a most agreeable perfume, and is often found in the 

 hay of the Eastern States. It is said to give an agreeable 

 flavor to milk, and assists in improving the flavor of beef 

 grown upon it with other grasses. This grass affords both 

 early and late pasturage, and flourishes best in a dry, sandy 

 or gravelly loam. Some assert that cattle will not eat it in 

 pasture, and that it is not valuable for hay, but the analysis 

 given of it on page 153 shows it equal to red-top. It has a 

 good reputation as a pasture-grass with many careful ob- 

 servers. It starts quick after cutting, and is thus consid- 

 ered valuable for lawns. 



There are many grasses natural to the Missouri River 

 region and the Eocky Mountain region, some of which will 

 be found in our tables of analyses on pages 146-48, 

 among which are Andropogon furcatus, called blue-joint, 

 which is said to compose about 40 per cent, of the grass in 

 Missouri Eiver region, and one-sixth of the grass in the 

 Rocky Mountain region; Andropogon scoparwus, called 

 broom-grass, occupying some 20 per cent, of the former 

 and 10 per cent, of the latter region; Sorghum nutans, 

 called wood-grass, is also largely found in these regions. 

 The buffalo-grass (Buchloe dactyloides), of which so much 

 is said in praise, covers only about one-twentieth part of 

 these regions. Sheep fescue is said to cover some 20 per 

 cent, of the Eocky Mountain region. 



An old pasture has many more grasses than here enum- 

 erated among the cultivated grasses, and the greater the 

 variety the better for the thrift of the cattle. 



