275 
UTILITY. 
GRASS. 
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and 
herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth 
food out of the earth. psalm civ. 14. 
It will be admitted that what is the most 
useful is in nature the most common ; and 
of all vegetable productions, what is there 
more common than grass? It clothes the 
earth with a verdant carpet, and it yields 
food,—nay, it “ grows for the cattle,” in 
obedience to the Creator’s word. 
Let the earth 
Put forth the verdant grass, herb yielding seed, 
And fruit tree yielding fruit after her kind, 
Whose seed is in herself upon the earth. 
He scarce had said, when the bare earth, till then 
Desert and bare, unsightly, unadorned, 
Brought forth the tender grass, whose verdure clad 
Her universal face with pleasant green; 
Then herbs of every leaf, that sudden flowered 
Opening their various colours, and made gay 
Her bosom, smelling sweet. milton. 
Howitt observes,—“ When grasses of the 
larger species are collected and disposed 
tastefully, as I have seen them by ladies, in 
vases, polished horns, and over pier-glasses, 
they retain their freshness through the year, 
t 2 
