a 
? NEGLECTED BEAUTIES. 
same conditions and surroundings, as nearly as circumstances will permit. When Ferns, or 
indeed any plants, are collected at a distance, they should be wrapped in a closely-woven 
wet cloth, both roots and fronds, and the bundle wrapped in another but dryer cloth, for 
transportation. Two common handkerchiefs, one wet and the other dry, will serve the 
purpose very well. In this way they can be safely carried long journeys, while for 
shorter distances, paper wrappings will suftice. 
° 
GRASSHS. 
DD. 
p HIS order of plants, scientifically designated, from the Latin, Graminee, 
is one of the most useful of nature’s products for the support of ani- 
mal life, and is coéxtensive with the animal kingdom, being found 
almost everywhere. In tropical and subtropical climates, some of the 
grasses assume a tree-like appearance, as the Bamboo, Sugar Cane, 
and Indian Corn. Wheat, Oat, Barley, Rye, Rice and some others 
furnish the staple food for the great majority of mankind; and most domestic 
as well as many wild animals derive their sustenance from these and other 
members of the Grass family. And as the human family depends largely 
upon these animals for food and clothing, it is not easy to conceive, much less 
to estimate how much the world owes to the two hundred and ninety-one 
genera and three thousand eight hundred species of the grass family. In this 
large array there is but one species that is not nutritious; this is known as Lolium temu- 
lentum, or poisonous Darnel Grass, which fortunately is not very plentiful. Where 
found, its rough exterior and bitter taste are repulsive to animals, and therefore its destruc- 
tive powers are but little felt. Our home surroundings are often beautified by the short- 
cropped lawn Grasses, making a delightful natural carpet for children’s play, as well as a 
pleasing object for the eye to rest upon. Though far removed from the gaudy and bril- 
Kant colorings of the Tulip, and for the most part but simple, unpretending plants, the 
Grasses possess a modest beauty all their own, or shared only with the Ferns. The 
florists and collectors have been busy for some time in bringing together the Grasses from 
distant parts of the world, and an admirer might now collect in his yard or window 
enough of specimen Grasses to effectively aid his children in their geography lessons, 
on the well-known principle of association of ideas. For instance, he might say this Grass 
in our southwest corner is from New Zealand; that in the southeast is from Australia; 
that other in the extreme east is from Japan; the next to the west is from China. And 
thus he might form the circuit of the whole world, pointing consecutively to the Grasses 
of India, Persia, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Azores, West Indies and 
America. Many of the Grasses are well adapted for indoor culture, and all for outdoor, 
in their proper climatic surroundings. Among the very choicest of the former are 
Panicum variegatum, which presents transformations of color equally singular and beau- 
\ tiful; the Isolepsis gracilis, with its bright-green, wiry leaves, adapted to borders in 
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