10 THE GRASSES 



the air for hia use, and deposits these elements in the soil, 

 thereby enriching the earth. Hence the adage with which 

 we set out, "no grass no cattle, no cattle no manure, no 

 manure no grass." 



This explains it all. Grass enriches the land and fattens 

 cattle, cattle feeds man and makes manure, manure enlivens 

 the soil and makes crops. There is an eternal revolution 

 in this. Nothing is lost in this circle. Nature repeats here 

 her great law of the indestructibility of matter. 



But all soils are not good producers of any one kind of 

 grass. 



Nature, in her benificence, has provided for this, for be- 

 sides the legumens that are classed as artificials, we have 

 about one hundred and thirty different varieties of the true 

 grasses, including cereals. Thus the marsh and the sandy, 

 thirsty hill-sides, the loamy valleys and the rock-ribbed 

 mountains, the shrubby barrens and the alluvial bottoms, 

 are all alike provided with a congenial growth. The love 

 of the pastoral has ever existed since man took possession of 

 this rich heritage. It has ever held a first place in the songs 

 and poetry of the world. While the grand epics of Homer 

 have stirred the hearts of the warlike, and made them clash 

 the spear against the sounding shield, the gentle idyls of 

 Virgil have recalled man to the sweets of domestic hap- 

 piness. The piping reed of the peaceful shepherd has no 

 less charm for humanity than the spirit-stirring drum and 

 fife, or the joyous vibrations of the passionate violin. Art 

 has also emulated poesy in portraying its loveliness, 

 and the landscape is never perfect on the canvass, unless 

 gamboling lambs or grazing herds occupy some prominent 

 place in the picture. A traveler passing through such a 

 scene has his eye constantly delighted with the ever chang- 

 ing panorama. The hay wagon, with its fragrant .loads, 

 passing to the teeming barns ; the beautiful hill-sides, car- 

 peted with its cloth of green; the grain field, with its bil- 

 lowy waves, swayed back and forth by the gentlest kisses of 



