17 



involves many special lines of study. The work is intensely in- 

 teresting, and it is our purpose to make it useful to you all. Our 

 main force at this time is directed to the preparation of a work 

 in which shall be illustrated and described all the North American 

 species of grasses, of which there are more than seven hundred. 

 I am able to show you the character of the illustrations. They 

 are all original, carefully drawn, and executed on wood. The de- 

 scriptions will be drawn from the specimens, and it is no simple 

 matter to classify these specimens into their proper species, as 

 the botanists among you will understand. During the summer 

 season we have agents in the field collecting the grasses of the 

 country, grass seeds of the more promising native species, and 

 live roots of grasses. These seeds and roots are being propa- 

 gated in the gardens established by the Department ; and at the 

 same time the material thus gathered is distributed to other 

 investigators with a view of widening our knowledge by cultural 

 experiments at other points, or is used in making exchanges. We 

 have a large correspondence that has to be attended to, and ques- 

 tions are asked us relative to the qualities of various grasses and 

 the kinds to be sown in given localities. We try to answer all 

 these questions, but occasionally one is asked which exceeds our 

 ability to answer ; for example, this, which was actually asked 

 us : " What was the first principal grass that began to grow on 

 what we know as the prairies of Illinois after the drift period or 

 ice age, and the date, if known ? " Such questions we are forced 

 to refer to a higher authority. Then there are collections of 

 grasses constantly being received from various sources, to be 

 named; this work takes time, for often the collections come from 

 regions where the species are little known and their identification 

 involves much study. The care of our grass gardens consumes 

 considerable time, and also the handling of the seeds and the 

 duplicate collections. Our main work, to which our energies 

 at present are chiefly directed, is, as just stated, the prepara- 

 tion of what may be termed the " Handbook of North American 

 Grasses." 



The subject selected for me was " Grasses." It is surely 

 an interesting one, and I shall indeed have failed in my purpose 

 if I have not succeeded in securing your interest in it. I have 

 found it impossible to do more than to indicate the importance 

 of grasses, or hardly more than to name a few of their uses or 



