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May ; affords large crops of fine, sweet hay ; fields with crops of 

 this grass raised near Mobile, present a splendid, luxuriant ap- 

 pearance ; is worth a place in the front of our pasture or hay 

 grasses; has been absurdly called Mesquite grass and said to 

 come from Texas ; is a native of Europe and there regarded as a 

 valuable perennial meadow grass. 



Arrhenatherum avenaceum: Oat grass : A fine perennial, much 

 of the aspect of oats, with a stem two to three feet in height, 

 with broadly linear leaves. Samples received this season from 

 Mississippi, taken from lots cut for hay, present the appearance 

 of a thrifty, luxuriant, largely yielding hay grass, well adapted for 

 our soils and climate. 



Phalaris intermedia: An annual native, peculiar to the lower 

 region of the South ; its tall, somewhat stout stems, bear broad 

 leaves and flowers in a dense cylindric terminal spike, two to 

 four inches long, and from one-half to three-fourths of an inch 

 thick, resembling the heads of timothy. It is asserted that stock 

 of all kinds is very fond of it, either green, or cured as hay ; 

 is common along our seashore in gravelly soils intermixed with 

 some vegetable mould. 



Panicum (Digitaria) sanguinale : Crab grass : This annual, 

 thoroughly naturalized from Europe, is too well known to need 

 further description here, and its merits as one of the chief hay 

 crops of the South, in regard to quality and quantity, are suffi- 

 ciently appreciated by all interested, to be spoken of any further, 

 here. 



Panicum f Digitaria J filiformis : Is the native form of crab 

 grass : Is common in the coast region of the Atlantic slope and 

 the Gulf: Its stem is erect, bearing its florets in erect, slender 

 spikes : Very common, but hard and dry, and not much relished 

 by cattle. 



The Panics proper, are represented in our flora by a great 

 number of species, forming a large part of our gramineous veg- 

 etation : They are mostly perennials, growing in the most dif- 

 ferent soils, and some of the gregarious species covering large 

 tracts of ground, are a prominent feature of our range : In the 

 young and tender state, all afford, more or less, valuable nutri- 

 ment: The larger species, with but few exceptions, soon get 

 harsh and dry, and arrived at maturity, are mostly unpalatable ; 

 the genus (Panicum) is known by its nearly globose spikelets 

 bearing one perfect floret : The more or less slender flower stalks 

 are disposed in panicles, on the main stem : Seeds are all mealy 

 and nutritious, and the smaller, more delicate species, are, on 



