ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 221 



toward the lower part of the stem where strength is needed, 

 and as you go up the stem the distance between them is in- 

 creased. 



If you notice the leaves of the grass you will always find 

 that they come out from these joints or nodes, and they are 

 what is termed in botanical language, opposite. That is, a leaf 

 starts on one side of the stem and the next starts from the joint 

 above and then you go to the next one and you will notice that 

 that starts directly above where the first started. 



Another thing, the leaf of the grass always surrounds the 

 stem to a greater or less extent. It frequently surrounds the 

 stem until you get to the next node above and sometimes it ex- 

 tends even a little higher than that. 



These characteristics will enable you to distinguish any 

 member of the grass family from any member of the sedge 

 family. If you will make a cross section of the stem of the 

 sedge you will find it is almost always triangular, and you will 

 find that the stem is solid, not pithy and not hollow. When 

 you come to the leaf you will find that the leaves are not two 

 ranked but three ranked. That is, the stem being triangular 

 there are three leaves each coming from a different angle of the 

 stem. In these different ways you can easily distinguish be- 

 tween any member of the sedge family and any member of the 

 grass family. 



During the past year at our experiment station we have had 

 many specimens of sedges sent for name and history. Farmers 

 throughout the state have seen these growing upon their farms 

 and have wanted to know what they were and if they were of 

 any value. They have no feeding value and are of no economic 

 importance. 



I will now very briefly speak of a few of the best known of 

 our grasses, those that we have been cultivating for a number 

 of years . under essentially the same conditions, and trying to 

 study their comparative merits with some degree of care. 



In the first place I will take the one that is best known 

 probably of all, and that is timothy. 



