VII 



THE BLUE-GRASSES 



KENTUCKY BLUE-GRASS {Poa fratensis) 



"Ever smelt Kentucky grass, 



Or heard about its blueness? 

 Seems as if the whole blamed world 

 Was bursting out with newness. 



" Slcies and follis alike all smiles — 

 Gracious ! you are lucky 

 If you spend a day in June 

 Down in old Kentucky." 



— Alfred Munson. 



TJ LUE-GRASS (June grass, Kentuck}' blue-grass), 

 ■*-* I Fig. 1 8, is the standard pasture-grass of the 

 teBI country — at least, in those sedlions where 

 tame pastures are mostly found. When the 

 American farmer speaks of grass he usually means 

 blue-grass. It is the one grass celebrated in song and 

 story. In the Blue-Grass Region of northern Kentucky, 

 and in many parts of Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, 

 and Ohio, blue-grass pastures are the pride of the 

 thrifty farmer. Its palatability to all classes of ^tock, 

 the evenness of the sod it forms, the beautiful color of 

 its verdure, and its increasing produdliveness with 

 age, if properly handled, all conspire to make blue- 

 grass the king of pasture-grasses. 



It is in the Blue-Grass Region that fine horses and 

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