CHAPTER III. 
OF THE FOOD OF CATTLE. 
GRASSES, CLOVER, AND OTHER VEGETABLE MATTER USUALLY CALLED FODDER, etc. 
The food of cattle, of which I design to treat in this chapter, will be mostly limited to the 
grasses. This class of plants contains numerous species which are occasionally eaten ; 
still the number on which cattle depend for support, is quite limited. They constitute a 
natural family of plants, possessing many characteristics in common. These are not con¬ 
fined to external appearance, but extend to their chemical constitution. In this latter point 
of view, the most remarkable character which they possess in common, is their silicious 
skeleton. Other plants which have been under consideration, were, properly speaking, 
lime plants , or lime united with an organic or phosphoric acid, or both. In the case of 
grasses, however, silica combined with an alkali constitutes the greatest part of their frame 
work, which is a hollow, light, fluted cylinder, possessing great strength for the amount of 
material which it contains. This is a necessary constitution, inasmuch as with almost any 
other they would possess stems too weak to brave the winds and storms. A sufficiency of 
silica, then, is the great requisite to their maturity; in which state only seed can be per¬ 
fected, and their species propagated. They are, however, nutritious in their immature 
state, and are freely eaten in all stages of growth ; but this fact should not lead us to adopt 
the opinion that they are equally nutritious at all stages of growth. They fulfil an im¬ 
portant purpose, as a tender juicy food, in the early spring; but they soon reach a point 
where they are in the greatest perfection, after which they lose daily their best parts by 
transmission to the seed; while the stem becomes dry and ligneous, and is very poorly 
adapted even to sustenance, much less to improvement and progress. 
For agriculturists, it is an important matter to ascertain when grasses are in their best 
condition for the food of stock. In determining this question, we may be guided by the 
nature of the case. It is evident that when a grass has put forth its blossoms, it has reached 
its natural size, its height and diameter; it ceases to grow : the energies of the plant are 
no longer directed to this end. Now another important function is to be fufilled : the 
perfection of seed. In order to fulfil this function, the nutritious matter in the stalk begins 
to concentrate in the embryo of the seed, or seed vessel; and in consequence of this, the 
stalk at. least loses more than it gains ; and after a short period, during which slow changes 
