, 1865-10-10

latter names belong 10 ths same grass, and
to tha American are household words, pnt 10
the botanist Of all nations the name f'hQidn'
P7af1se would lead to no mlapndersf andtngg-
Thus while VIC should cu1tlyatea and eucour-
age the use Of Latin pames applied to Psautst
to more thorough understanding 5ot IN Pop
ular descriptions these should be- as little
used "a possible, With i due regard to the
elucidation Of the subject.
The blue esass family Is large, and contains
so n1any individuals with common character
lstics, that We mast study the points In which
they most differ
"a our lawn there Il not less than four
grasses that pass for blue 4ra:s With rsany
turner's, and the seed of which Is always I1ore
or less mixed. Thsee Of these grasses ate
valuable, but the seed should be kept sePar-
atc. To DO this, haad-{Atherng o. s!r!ppl1g ,;,
examine this subject, and make It 50 p1ait.
that, hereafter, the ttssders Of the TRIBUNE
shall have no occasion to plead ignorance.
Woods Botany thus Describes blue grass
Pea. comprsssa--Blue cpl gsass-stem, dectm-
.smoola, ssllate, 1e-10 h1g1l; leaves Hat, nar.
row Linear, smooth, BLUSH green sheath
smooth. rather loose, within short obtuse
istipu1e. panicIe contracted so1new hal, ,secund
branches scahrous, 2's amt SIS !; sgiketets
orate.oblohg, 3-6-fovercd subscesile. June.
smooth, one and two feet high J.; Leaves
carinate ( linear, abruptly acnte radical
ones very long and nutnarous; c2u~
line, shorter than the vcined, snoeth shtatds;;
stipule, short, truncate panic:e, diHuse;
branches three to five together IN kali: :whorIs
spikelets oyate, acute. With about fonr oVRte
flowers glnmes 1anceolate, rather. acemnt-
nate-May and june. Varies much in lu1u-
Rance, aecoFdlng to soil:
For the present, we will consider theaboye
rs standard scientific descriptions, and reduce
them to plain English, with few additions
It may be well to state that 1t ia our dsliber-
English blue gsass, and Identical With the
true blue grass Of Kentucky. In the first
p1ace, this grass delights In shade and mols-
lure, On bigh, rolling prairie the growth Is
feeble and rather prostitute, but with abun-
dapt showers 1t will eTeu there make vtgor-
ous growth, md a. it remains green and suc-
culent, Is alwnys desirable for pasture. 1t also
delights in deep, rich, clay 1oan, hence It's
vigorous growth aud great popularity In Cen
trSI Illinois and other regions containing a
friabie soil, especially If calcefous.
In the first p1ace the stem Is hattened Or
rather cross section Of 1t Is obtuse oyote
md is solid. There Is no percept1ble hollow
in 1t. The panicles or seed stems come ont In
twos and th1eea. That Is, there are two to
three Of them opposite each other, while on
the spear grass there are three to FIVE, andthe
stem Of the spear grass, Instead Of being tat
there Is ample difference to not mistake one
for the other, but this Is not all. The speaF
erass Is at this date dead ripe, the seeds al
most white, and the stems Of light yellow,
while the eeeds Of the blne grass nre green
and in the milk, and the ste1ns Of deep
grcen-a color that they retain when ripe.
The stem OF the blue grass when Arst starting
from the root is creeping or PROSTATE, but at
one or two inches assumes an upright growth.
The spear grass shoots up Its stems direct.
The seeds Of the spear grass are Light colorel,
more numerous, smoother nud more pointed
at the ends
Blue g1ass and spear grn5s ara 50 near alike
In general appearance Tint they nEo doubtless
rentrplly confounded; add to this, TINT they
are almost always mixed In the turf, and we
may cease to wonder at the TACT,
We will venture the assertion that not one
! ference, or that III fuct be has even observed
that there were TWO varieties Of this grass.
| ], N. Brown. of San.rnMon, las the spear
| erass. and this he calls Kentucky blue grass.
Not having visited his ground, we cannot say
| how much of the poa compressd Is mixed tn 1t,
but visitors assure "a that ths ptedominatins
grAss Is the spear gEass. which now presents
| the ripeued seed, aud gircs to his pastures 8
| white appearance. This l evidence that he
| has the spear grass, for the blue grass fs aE
| ways PROSTATE when the seed Is ripe The
stalks remain green, aud continue to afford
| E1cEniE0t Ibt1s " WniiE tNE eA2ah Va iAE etE2A
grass becomes dead and Of no value for pas-
l turage-
It ls a noticeable fact that the spear grass
grows more luyuriant at the West than at the
East, hence the reason that s0lon Robinson
and other writer's say that Kentucky blue
grass and spear grass are nearly identical.
When we look at the two grasses In botan-
ica1 point OF view, VIC see vast difference be-
tween re- gra<ns sa ana n poa o9presf 3mza e. eobt
panlclcs, in half whorls, the latter but three
| Cd The stem OF the former Is round and
| hollow, the latter latteued and solid-
I'd. The former ripen in juno, on an upright
stalk. which turns yellow and IL no longer o
value for food. The latter ripen Its seed IL
July and August, On prostrate stem, which
remnins green and snccu1ent fbr months, ant
valuable tor food; The seed remains On It unti
| October or later. These are wide differences
more especially the latter which gives th
blue gzass It's superiority.
That people cultivate the spear grass r'nde
the impression that It Ia blue gr1ss, does no
make Il 50 no more than confounding the two
L It ia true that turner's understood the differ
cnce 20 - to separate them in the seeding O
The prevailing grass throughout this State
| called blue grass and Kentucky blue grass. |
| spear grass. We have the imported Engiis'
| blue Rtass po4 coniprexsf and 1t is ldeuflca
with the 50 called native blue grass. "
| bnye no doubt that II Is the same and had
I !! commou origin and camc from Europe.
j In the second volume, Of the transaction,
; Of the Illinois State Agricultural Society,
t IN essay on grasses byp. A: Laphau1. of Milwa,
kee. Wis, md entitled, "The Native, Natu'
SLICED and Cultivated Grassea Of the State {
Illinois" Here Is what be says Of the tw
, | Crpsses now under discussion.
rim poA coMpREssA.