232 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
has isolated twenty-two varieties of brome-grass 
(Bromus inermis Leyss.) as distinct, for instance, in 
their agricultural characters, as the ordinary varieties 
of wheat (see Fig. 48). He has also isolated a larger 
number of varieties of blue-grass (Poa pratensis), dif- 
fering to a remarkable degree in character of growth, 
and, consequently, in agricultural value. 
It is probable that all the standard grasses can like- 
wise be separated into varieties, some of which would 
be a marked improvement over these grasses as ordi- 
narily grown. Much work of this character is now in 
progress, and it will be only a few years till farmers 
may be supplied with improved varieties of most of 
the important grass crops. 
GRASS FADS 
A word of caution to farmers concerning much- 
advertised new grasses may not be out of place, though, 
unfortunately, those who most need this caution will 
never see these pages. Every few years some enter- 
prising seedsman discovers a new forage plant that, to 
quote from the seedsman’s catalogue, ‘‘ produces 
eighty tons of green feed per acre, is indestructible 
both by fire and water, and furnishes shade in summer 
and shelter against the storms of winter.’’ Unfortu- 
nately, thousands of farmers have spent their hard- 
earned dollars for these much-advertised seeds at prices 
that amaze those who are familiar with their actual 
market value, only to learn that they are worthless 
weeds, or some old and well-known forage plant that 
is masquerading under a new name. 
The two most prominent fads of this kind in recent 
