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Part I—RHODE ISLAND BENT AND RELATED GRASSES. 
By CHARLES V. Prrer, Agrostologist in Charge of Forage-Crop Investigations. 
INTRODUCTION. 
‘Rhode Island bent” as the name of a grass appeared in American 
acricultural literature at least as early as 1790 (4, p. 123)' and its 
modification ‘‘Rhode Island grass” as early as 1841 (17, p. 115). 
Perhaps no other grass has given rise to more confusion regarding 
its identity, both in commercial use and in botanical publications. 
The reason for this lies largely in the fact that many species and 
subspecies of bent grasses, the botanical genus Agrostis, are very 
similar to one another and consequently are much confused, even 
in botanical works. 
The treatments by different botanists of the species and varieties 
centering about common redtop (Agrostis alba L. of most botanists) 
are much involved. Some of the confusion is due to the different 
opinions held by botanists as to the systematic value of the numerous 
forms described, but the matter has become more entangled by 
errors in the application of the names, both common and technical. 
The subject of botanical names is of interest primarily to botanists, 
but it has caused some confusion in the seed trade also and conse- 
quently in the culture of the bent grasses. The most noteworthy 
recent attempt to clarify the nomenclature is that of Ascherson 
and Graebner (1, p. 172-183). In Europe, however, many more 
_ varieties occur than in America, so the subject is correspondingly 
more complex. 
From the agronomic standpoint it is necessary to consider only 
the forms which are utilized in agriculture or the seeds of which 
have been handled commercially. These forms are six in number, 
as follows: 
Redtop (Agrostis palustris Huds.; Agrostis alba L. of most botanists), the most 
valuable species of bent for agricultural use. This grass is too coarse to make really 
fine turf. The commercial seed is grown in the United States, mainly in Illinois. 
Fiorin (Agrostis maritima Lamarck; Agrostis stolonifera var. latifolia Sinclair), 
formerly a much-exploited grass, propagated vegetatively, the seed never having been 
gathered commercially. It occurs along the North Atlantic coast in America as well 
~ asin Europe. 
Rhode Island bent (Agrostis tenuis Sibth.; Agrostis vulgaris With.), a much finer 
grass than redtop and probably the most abundant grass in New England, where it 
makes up much of the pastures. Commercial seed has been gathered principally in 
_ Rhode Island, but in recent years only to a very limited extent. 
1 The seria] numbers in parentheses refer to “‘ Literature cited,” p. 14. 
