212 APPENDIX. 



its merits, or who has seen the fine beef or mutton in 

 our markets from June until Juue again. 



" There are several varieties of this grass, two of 

 "which are the most common and generally known, — 

 one with a blade that resembles blue-grass, and stems 

 which run up in a cluster and bear seed of much the 

 kind that blue-grass does except that it does not form 

 a turf, but grows in bunches, and is found in high roll- 

 ing bench-land, parks, and mountains. The other kind 

 grows more frequently upon the first bench, and may 

 be thus described : The blade is sharp and the heads all 

 turn to one side, and, from the broad boot on the seed- 

 stalk, it is often called flag-grass : as to the quantity to 

 the acre, there is little or no difference. The latter 

 kind is usually preferred for cattle, but the former is 

 preferred for sheep, yet either is very fine for both. 

 These grasses start forth in the early spring and grow 

 very rapidly ; in ordinary springs the grass is headed 

 out by the first of June. The height of the grass is 

 usually eighteen inches, yet, under favorable circum- 

 stances, it grows much higher. By the last of June 

 the heads are ripe, and, in ordinary seasons, the blades 

 are all nicely cured by the middle of July, and the 

 whole landscape is as brown as a field of grain ready 

 for the sickle, and would burn if set on fire. There is 

 no time that stock takes on fat better than in the early 

 autumn. The cured grass retains its nutriment all 

 winter, from the fact that we have no drenching rains 

 in the autumn to bleach it; the light snows that come 

 in the early winter and melt off soon only serve to 

 moisten it and make it more palatable. When we 



