200 



THE GRASSES OF TENNESSEE. 



at maturity than in bloom. It has a mixture of benzoic 

 acid among its constituents, which imparts to it a highly 

 aromatic character, and this is so strong that other grasses 

 with which it may be mixed are affected by it. It is not in 

 general use in Tennessee, but would pro- 

 bably add to the value of pastures if sown 

 with other grasses. Cows running on it 

 are, by some, said to give a rich milk 

 and highly flavored butter, but Mr. 

 Gould thinks this is an error. It may be 

 known by rubbing its green leaves in 

 the fingers, to which it yields its scent. 

 On certain soils favorable to its growth, 

 it will root out almost every other kind 

 and take complete possession. Its seeds 

 have a spiral awn, and when taken in 

 the hand, affected by its moisture, the 

 awns will uncoil, and the seeds will ap- 

 pear to move as insects. There are six or 

 seven pounds in a bushel, and nine hun- 

 dred and twenty-three thousand two 

 hundred in a pound. Its analysis, ac- 

 cording to Way, ranks it, when dry, a 

 little higher than blue grass, as follows ; 

 Flesh-formers, 10.43; fatty matters, 3.41, 

 and heat-producing principles, 43.48. Blue grass gives, 

 flesh-formers, 10.35; fat, 2.63; heat producers, 43.06. 



The same chemist gives the following as its composition 

 when green : Water, 80.35; flesh-formers, 2.05; fat, 0.67; 

 heat-producers, 8.54; woody fibre, 7.15; ash, 1.24. Scheven 

 and Bitthausen's analysis, grass green, gives the following 

 result: Water, 72; flesh -formers, 2.1; fat, 0.8, heat-pro- 

 ducers, 11.2; woody fibre, 12.3; ash, 1.6. Still another 

 analysis may be found on page 36. 



Sinclair showed that when grown upon a sandy loam 

 well manured, the produce of an acre, cut in flowering time, 



