GRASSES: 83 
branches or stolons. All the valuable pasture grasses 
belong to this division—e.g., Rye-grass, the useful Meadow 
Grasses, Cocksfoot, Timothy, Meadow Fox-Tail, Red 
Top, &c. Pt) dee et os 
Uses of Grasses. No other family of, plants is more 
useful than the grasses, or will grow in a greater variety of 
situation. Their foliage forms the chief. food of our 
domesticated animals (cattle, horses, sheep, goats), and 
they are extensively cultivated for fodder (hay). The 
cereals (Wheat, Oats, Barley, Rye, Rice, Millet, Maize) 
are all cultivated for their grains, which form the staff of life 
in all civilised countries. The grains of Oats, Maize, and 
Wheat are also largely used for feeding horses, pigs, and 
poultry. In tropical countries vast quantities of sugar are. 
prepared from the sap of the thick succulent stems of the 
Sugar Cane. Paper-pulp is also prepared from the leaves of 
many grasses. Beer and whisky are made from malted 
Barley. Starch is prepared from the grains of several 
cereals. In tropical countries Bamboos serve a bewildering 
variety of uses. | 
Many grasses are highly ornamental and are grown in 
gardens for their beauty. Among these are Bamboos, the 
Danubian Reed (Arundo donax), Pampas Grass, the native 
Toi Toi (Arundo conspicua), &e. | 
Tillering of Wheat and Oats. In a Wheat or 
Oat field you may notice a number of flowering stems 
growing up from a single plant. This is because the plant 
has produced a number of stout stolons (side branches) 
each of which produces a flowering stem. Rolling the 
fields while the plants are still young, helps to make them 
“tiller” or send out a number of side shoots. For the 
same purpose calves and sheep are put into the fields to eat 
back the main shoots. Anything that checks the growth 
of the first or main shoot tends to make it “tiller.” It is 
