= ee Senischoe Phares says it was formerly found widely diffused 
= through the Southern States, from the sea-shore to the mountains. It 
is now seldom seen, having been destroyed by cattle. 
Mr Howard, of South Carolina, says of it: 
This is a native of the South, from the mountains to thecoast. Theseedstemruns 
up te the height of5 to7 feet. The seeds break off from the stem asif from a joint,a > 
single seed ata time. ‘The leaves resemble those of corn. When cut before the seed its 
stems shoot up they make a coarse but nutritious hay. It may be cut three or four — : 
times during the season. The quantity of forage which can be made from it is enor- 
mous. Both cattle and horses are fond of the hay. The rootsare alinost as large and 
‘strong as cane roots. It would require a team of four to six oxen toplowitup. It ~~ 
can, however, be easily killed by close grazing, and the mass of dead roots would —— 
certainly enrich the land. As the seeds of this grass vegetate with uncertainty, itis == 
usually propagated by setting out slips of the roots about 2 feet apart each way. 
On rich land the tussocks will soon meet. In the absence of the finer hay grasses 
this will be found an abundant and excellent substitute. The hay made from it is 
very like corn fodder, is quite equal to it in value, and may be saved at a tithe of =e 
the expense. 2 
(Plate 21.) es 
EUCHLAENA. es 
Buchlena luxurians (Teosinte). 4 
This grass is allied to and somewhat resembles Indian corn. Likeit,  — — 
it has the male flowers in a tassel at the top of the stalk, and the fertile te 
ones arranged in slender spikes mostly concealed from view by the loose —_~ 
husk or sheath in which they are contained. These husks come from - 
nearly every joint. sa 
Prof. Asa Gray, in the American Agriculturist for August, 1880, a 
speaking of this plant, writes: os 
The director of the botanic garden and Government plantations at Adelaide, South- 
E ern Australia, reports favorably of this strong-growing, corn-like forage plant, the Pan 
Euchlena luxurians ; that the prevailing dryness did not injure the plants, which 
preserved their healthy green, while the blades of the other grasses suffered materially. 
The habit of throwing out young shoots is remarkable, sixty or eighty rising to a 
height of 5 to 6 feet. Further north, at Palmerston (nearer the equator), in the course 
of five or six months the plant reached the height of 10 to 14 feet, and the stems on hohe 
one plant numbered fifty-six. The plants, after mowing down, grew again several <i 
feetinafewdays. The cattle delight init in a fresh state, also whendry. Undoubt- 
edly there is not a more prolific forage plant known; but, as it is essentially tropic a 
in its habits, this luxuriant growth is found in Saibedal or aa binopiel climates. The : 
chief drawback to its culture with us will be that the ripening of the seed crop will — 
_ be problematical, as early frosts will kill the plant. To make the teosinte a most 
useful plant in Texas, and along our whole Southern border, the one thing needful is 
to develop early flowering varieties so as to get seed before frost. And this could be az 
done, without doubt, ifsome one in Texas or Florida would set about it. Whatit has — 
taken ages to do in the case of Indian corn, in an unconscious way, might be mainly > 
done in a human life-time by rightly directed care and vigorous selection. Whoisthe 
man who is going to make millions of blades of grass grow where none of any account = 
ever grew before? —— 
xg Seeds of this semi-tropical forage plant were distributed by the De- 4 
_ partment in the spring of 1886 and again in 1887. The plant consider- 
