258 THE GRAMMA GRASSES. 



of the species of Poa — such, for instance, as the Ken- 

 tucky Blue grass {Poa pratensis) — appear to take the 

 lead, as among the most important pasture grasses. This 

 species is known as Green grass in Pennsylvania. It is 

 said also to bear the hottest summers of Tennessee, 

 where it is reckoned one of the best grasses, while it 

 grows with the utmost luxuriance in Kentucky, and as 

 far north as Indianapolis, in Wooded pastures, and forms 

 a large proportion of the turf even in New England. 

 This and nearly allied species are not adapted, however, 

 to alternate husbandry. 



Beyond the limits of these on the south, the Gramma, 

 the Guinea, and the Bermuda grasses, take the lead ; 

 while the sugar-cane itself is not unfrequently culti- 

 vated as a fodder plant. Some of the festucas, also, grow 

 well, and withstand the hot climate, and- form a valua- 

 ble winter feed for cattle. They are known there by 

 the term "winter grass." In many sections, also, the 

 Common Reed Grass {Phragmites communis) and its 

 allied species cover the low grounds, and afford a large 

 amount of nutritive herbage, till cut off by the frosts ; 

 while on the dry plains west of these sections, the 

 gramma grasses, or, as they are often called, the Mezquite 

 (one or more of the species of Bouteloua), become the 

 most valuable of the native species found in a belt of 

 country with about the thirty-fifth parallel as its centre. 

 The Buffalo grass, or small gramma, is one of these 

 species found as far north as the fortieth parallel. 



The gramma grasses are valuable chiefly as being 

 adapted to a hot climate. Their growth is mainly in the 

 rainy season, and they seed abundantly as the dry season 

 approaches. In the section of country west from the 

 State of Arkansas, the rainy season is in the spring ; 

 in the northern part of Mexico, it is in summer ; in 

 southern Texas, in autumn, and in some parts of New 



