THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 97 



cle is short aud contracted, 1 to 3 iiiclies long. The branches are in 

 pairs or threes, short, rough, and frequently one sided. The spikt'lets 

 are ovate-oblong, flat, short-stalked, and generally three to five flo\Yeied. 

 The outer glumes are acute, the flowering ones obtuse, smooth, the 

 nerves obscure, and the a])ex frequently purplish colored. It forms a 

 very firm turf by means of its creeping rootstalks. Very contradictory 

 accounts have been given as to its agricultural value, some denouncing 

 it as worthless and others entertaining a good opinion of it. It thrives- 

 well on clay, or hard trodden and poor soils. 

 Hon. J. S. Gould says, respecting it: 



It is certain that cows that feed upon it both in pasture and in hay give more milk 

 and keep in better condition than when fed on any other grass. Horses fed on rhis 

 hay will do as well as when fed on timothy hay and oats-combined. 



These discrepant opinions may be due in part to having mistaken the 

 Poa pratensis for this grass. It is probably a nutritious grass, but from 

 its spare yield can hardly obtain much favor for a hay crop. (Plate 99.) 



Poa arachnifera. (Texas Blue grass.) 



This species was first described by Dr. John Torrey in the report of 

 Captain Marcy's exploration of tHe Eed River of Louisiana, as having 

 been found on the headwaters of the Trinity, and named Foa arachnifera 

 from the profuse webby hairs growing about the flowers, altliough it is 

 found that this character is very variable, probably depending some- 

 what on the amount of shade or exposure to which the grass is subject. 

 - Several years ago Mr. Hogan, of Texas, sent specimens of the grass 

 to this Department, and as it was shown to be a relative of the Kentucky 

 blue grass, Mr. Hogan adopted for the common name Texas blue grass. 

 We give some extracts from his letters relating to the grass : 



I find it is spreading rapidly over the country, and I claim for it all and more in Texas 

 than is awarded to the Poa pratensis in Kentucky. It seems to be indigenous to all 

 the prairie country between the Trinity River aud the Brazos in our State. It blooms 

 here about the last of March, and ripens its seeds by the 15th of April. Stock of all 

 kinds, and even poultry, seem to prefer it to wheat, rye, or anything else gro \vn in winter. 

 It seems to have all the characteristics of Poa prafensis, only it is much larger, and 

 therefore affords more grazing. I have known it to grow 10 inches in ten days during 

 the winter. The coldest winters do not even nip it, and although it seems to die down 

 during summer it springs up as soon as the first rains fall in September and grows all 

 winter. I have known it in cultivation some five years, and have never been able to 

 find a fault in it. It will be ready for pasture in three or four weeks after the first 

 rains in the latter part of August or first of September. I have never cut it for hay _ 

 Why should a man want hay when he can have greeu grass to feed his stock on ? 



Mr. James E. Webb, of Greensborough, Hale County, Alabama, writes 

 to the Department December 26, 1883, and says : 



Recent experiments show that the Texas blue grass {Poa arachnifera) ^ounshes and 

 grows here in west Alabama as finely as could be wished, and is likely « ie long to 

 furnish us what we so much need, a fine winter grass. With Texas blue gi ass, Meli- 

 lotus, and Bermuda grass, Alabama is a fine stock country. 

 2218 GR 7 



