AGRICULTURAL GRASSES. 51 



of selecting seeds, and Sinclair of studying varieties of 

 laud, that either practice came into vogue; and it is 

 but the smaller portion of farmers who give intelli- 

 gent care to the subject even at the present day, though 

 few would confess to neglecting it altogether. For 

 those whose lands bear first-rate natural pasturage, we 

 have only to recommend gratitude to the Author of all 

 nature's benefits, but to the rest we beg to recall the 

 well-known proverb, " God helps those that help them- 

 selves." 



Every part of the plant of a grass affords food for 

 animals, but grasses vary greatly in the quantity of foli- 

 age they produce, and in the quality of that foliage. 

 Where the leaves are thick and succulent, there is gene- 

 rally a predominance of sugar and mucilage ; if the tint 

 be glaucous, it is a still greater sign of the prevalence of 

 the sugar. On the other hand, the grasses with thin 

 leaves, rough, and of a light tint, contain a greater por- 

 tion of extractive matter. According to Sinclair's ana- 

 lysis, the grasses with the inflorescence in a spike or close 

 panicle and succulent leaves, contain a good deal of 

 gluten; those with very tall culms, spreading panicles, 

 and leaves flat and rough, have a great quantity of 

 saline matter and bitter extractive; whilst those with 

 strong creeping roots, few culms, leaves flat and rough, 

 and spike of few flowers, excel in the bitter extract com- 

 bined with mucilage. 



In forming artificial pastures, the first care should be 

 to improve the land and get it into the best possible 

 state, dressing with lime or clay or manure, according 

 to the elements most needed. 



The dry sandy or chalky land, which by nature would 

 bear the grasses described above, if treated with large 



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