The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-09-14
GRAINS AND GRAsSs IS.
Some Are Good to Eat, Some Are
Giants and Others Are Poisonous.
From the WASHINGTON Star.

Giants and Others Are Poisonous.
From the Washington Star.
The department OF agriculture says that
the recent extraordinary rise in the grain
market was not 10 the lesst surprising.
"This ia the third year of short wheat
crops everywhere abroad" said J.
Richards Dodge, the most eminent authority
on such matters In this country, to a Star
reporter yesterday. Not only has the left
over surplus besn exhausted, but what is
called the invisible reserve supply in the
| farmers bins has been used up. The pres
| enJ wheat crop in this country is unusually
| big, and It must be drawn upon largely BY
Europe particularly England, which eats
enormously more wheat than she produces
Hence the rise in price.
IN RUSSIA.
Russia is the reproducing country OF
the world. The crop is very poor, and the
car has commanded that none of il shall
be exported. The Germans, who eat rye
and not wheat, are alarmed The soldiers
are grumbling seriously AZ the prospect of
being Obliged to feed upon wheay bread for
lack OF rye bread this year. incidentally
the few millions Of bushels of rye grown in
the United States have advanced in value
CUSTOMS OF DIFFERENT NATIONS.
ut is very curious TO observe how the
different nations eat different grains. In
the United States we feed largely upon
corn, which in England is thought to be
only good for horses. A very few years
ago we ate no oats; at present we consume
more oatmeal than does any other poepla
We don't care mucn for rye, except for
distilling into whisky, and 80 our pToduc-
ton OF 1t is comparatively small. Ger
many AMI r ussia eat rye while oil Western
Europe feeds upon wheat. Go into Ger
man beer saloon and it is always rye bread
that you will find upon TIE bar. China
and Japan choose rice for their grain. So
does india The latter also is large con-
sumner of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. cereal
plants, which are only considered lit for
forage in this country"
GRASSES.
Speaking of grasses, wheat and rye are
| both grasses-there is much that is most in
! teresting to be said respecting them. Corn
is kind of grass, and 50 is oats. barley aud
| rice likewise In fact, all the grains are
| grasses, modified somewhat and improved
as to their seed-bearing by cultivation and
| crossing of stocks.
The giant of all the grasses is the bamboo,
| single stems of which attain a len 9Th OF ITO
| feet and diameter of foot So rapidly
| does this plant grow that 1t will attain a
hight of 100 feet in sixty days, certain
! species adding ten feet to their statue
i
IN THE SOUTHERN STATES
grass from ten to fifteen feet tall forms i'm
penetrable thlckets called canebrakes. Its
leaves are so nutritious that cattle Will live
all winter in such jungles with no other
food. The woody stems are sid all over
the country for fishing poles.
A kind OF grass grows in Brazil that
affords living fountains of drink to the
thirsty traveller. Its stems reach forty feet
in hight and six inches in thickness. When
they are cut they gush with streams of cool
water.
The Indians of the upper Amazon in
South America use a sort of grass native to
those regions for blow pipes. They cut
lengths sixteen feet between two joints, and
through these, followed out, they pro ject
with their breath arrows enYenomed with
the deadly "woorari" poison.
In India certain aromatic grasses arc Gull
tivated for their delicious fragrance. From
one of these, called "lemon grass" an es3en-
tial oil for tiavoring purposes Is obtained,
An extract from another is made the most
important ingredient of cooling drink. and
is valued as mild stimuleut, like ginger.
POISONOUS GRASSES.
There are some very poisonous grasses in
the world. The plants are not so, but they
acquire their deadly properties from certain
fungi, which attack them and invade their
tissue. Cattle eat them and perish. Some-
times the seeds get mixed with grains and
poison people. One such species has re-
Gently taken root in this country, and it
may cause trouble yet. 1t came from
Europe, and is known as "lolium." "Trem-
bling grass" it Is called, because 1t brings on
a sort of palsy.
VARIOUS KINDS OF GRASSES.
Two or three kinds of coarse marsh grass
are used, particularly in Holland, to keep
the soil from blowing or being washed away
on the banks OF streams or canals. Their
roots form complete network beneath the
surface, aud hold the earth together Sugar
cane Is grass and 50 Is sorghum. There
are about $500 species of grasses in the
world, and Of this number the United
States has 800 of all sorts-lnarsh grasses.
desert grasses, e,c. Tpere is a curious for
age grass in Brazil that is like very much
megnihed oats, growing to the hight of
twelve feet. From some grasses paper is
made. The Only genus Of plants peculiar to
the arctic is q rare and beautiful grass indi-
genous to Melville Island.
BAMBOO CULTIVATION.
1t is hoped by the department of agri-
culture thas the bamboo may yet be culti-
waited in this country as 10 is In China,
where it supplies large part Of the wants
of the people. being applied to more than
500 different purposes. in the iiowery king
dom it takes the place both Of iron and steel
The farmer builds his house aud fences out
Of it. his farming utensils as well as his
household furniture are manufactured from
it, while the tender shoots furnish him with
most delicious vegetable for his table,
VARIED USES.
The roots are carved into fantastic
images, shaped into divining blocks to guess
the will Of the gods or cut into lantern
handles and canes The taperln9 culms are
used for the props of houses, the framework
of awnings, the ribs Of sails and shafts OF
rakes, for fences and every sort Of frames,
coops and cages, and the handles and ribs Of
umbrellas and fans. The leaves are sewed
into rain coats and thatches. The shayings
and curled threads furnish materials for