THE JULY PAGEANT. 79 
exceeded the wheat crop of the whole world. Plainly, 
corn is king among the princes of this royal family. 
What more fitting emblem for the great Republic than 
this kingly plant whose grain is of the color of gold, 
which is grown to some extent in every state and terri- 
tory of our Union, and in almost every county in which 
agriculture is carried on! 
In southeastern Asia, the hive of the human family, 
three other grasses of great economic value probably 
had their origin, rice, sugar-cane and the bamboo. 
Rice is used for food by more people than any other 
one grain. The mere enumeration of the uses of the 
bamboo would fill many pages. 
What a variety of products comes from these few 
members of the grass family— flour, meal, corn, oats, 
barley, rye, sugar, molasses. Fermented and distilled 
liquors are no insignificant part of the product. Sugar, 
molasses and rum are three very unlike products, yet 
they are all obtained from the stalk of the sugar-cane. 
What countless springs of activity are set in motion by 
this one family! Agriculture, manufacturing and com- 
merce are fostered by it. 
Our humbler grasses will certainly take on an 
added interest when we consider their kinship with 
these noble forms. Certainly, in the upland pasture we 
shall still look for the quaking grass (Briza media, L.), 
favorite among our local grasses; in the meadows the 
