The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1878-08-16

Next to the study OF ferns, perhap
that Of grasses has Of late years beef
most popular. Their graceful shapes
variety Of species and abundance rende
them attractive objects To the youn.
botanical stadent. They carpet oul
English meadows, and give them tha
characteristic grccnery which is so yiv
idly remembered when one Is far ava,
from them. The cattle upon thousand
hills browse upon their succulent and
nutritious foliage. The larvm of innu-
merablc insects find abundance Of food
In the wilderness where grasses grow
The geologists know they were among
the Oldest towering plants to appear on
the earth; the geographer is aware Of
their singularly extensive distribution
and peculiar adaptation to climature.
The botanist has Of late years identified
their method Of fertilization with one Of
the most singular aud unlooked-for re-
latlonships between plants and other
objects. No other kind of heritage con-
tributes so largely to the support Of the
animal world, from the grass-feeding
kangaroos Of Australia to man. Our sta
pie food sprepared from their seeds, and
this has been the case since prehistoric
times, so that it is impossible to tell
for certainty from what species such
cultivated forms as our common wheat
were originally derived. Mankind has
forgotten the very sources of this
primeval food supply. Even in classic
times 1t was found necessary to invent
some such poetic fable as that of Ceres,
TO account for the benefits which these
plants have conferred on man. How
long the seeds Of certain grasses have
been the staple food of our race we can
not tell. Half-burnt wheat and other
corn grains have been found in abun-
dance among the debris Of the Swiss
lake dwellings, showing that it was
grown and garnered for food at that
early epoch. II it be true that the wild
grass known as -Egilops, found in west
ern Asia, is the original OF the common
wheat we now SO largely cultivate, then
the latter may have been first reared by \
our Aryan ancestors, and have accom-
panied their migrations from the time
when the first colony went forth into the
unknown world outside their home.
The inconspicuous and uncolored
flowers Of all grasses are not without a
reason. Within the last six or seven
years 1t has been proved that the cause
OF flowers possessing beautiful corollas
and sweet perfumes is that these quail
ties may attract the insect tribes. The
latter carry the pollen-grains from flow-
en- TO flower, and thus unconsciously
benefit them by crossing. And, as a
rule, the plants which bear the most at
tractive flowers require to be crossed in
TO their effectiveness,
whilst less snowy corollas do not
require crossing in the same degree. II
Is now known beyond doubt that this
principle Of cross-fertilization in plants
Is one Of the most important and neces-
sary. The shapes, internal and exter-
nal, Of flowers are frequently designed
with special reference 10 bringing II
about. Only two agents are universally ,
capable Of crossing all kinds of flowers
insects and the wind. The former are I
attracted by bright colors and sweet per-
umes, and the flowers which REQUIRE in
'ect aid are therefore obliged to display I
hese attractions. The latter is m I'm !
conscious agent, on which color and !
perfume would be completely thrown !
way. Therefore the flowers habitual- !
y crossed BY the wind do not possess
howy blossoms; and hence the reason I
Why grasses, which are chief among the I
flowers, have such an I'M /
and inconspicuous kind Of I
The perfumes of grasses are not SO
0undant as those Of other plants, al
hough they are quite as distinctive
he well known smell Of npw-fnown
ay Is evolved chiefly by the sweet I
melting vernal grass and no other. :,
he presence Of this species is quite suf- ]
cient 70 perfume the rest and to pro- !
uce that most delightful Of summary i
mells, the odor of the bayfield,. The y
erfume can now be artificially initiated y
'om the products Of gas-tar, and a reg y
lar manufacture of it is carried on for !,
erfumery purposes Casseli's Maya i
inc.