The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-09-23
Grass Lore For Farmers
Department of Agriculture Says World Has 5000 Disnc
tive Species But Only 60 Cultivated.

wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice, sugar
cane and the like as grass, but suca
is their botanical classification. On
the other hand, the term grass is pop
ularly applied to all green heritage
on which cattle and other animals feed
and this would include many plants
which are not botanically related to
the true grasses, such as the clovers,
alfalfa, ct cetera. The grasses furnish
the principal food of both man and
beast and are the foundations of agri-
culture.
Singularly enough, the most import
ant grasses, the cereals, are not known
in the wild state and their cultivation
extends so far back into antiquity that
even their places of origin are I'M
known Either their wild counter
parts have become extinct, or the
cereals have been so developed and
changed by cultivation that their villa
forms are no longer recognizable.
Many Species
In This Country.
Altogether there are about 1,400
species of grass growing in the United
States. In one state alone, Washing
ton, some 275 species are found. Orig
inally almost one-half the area of the
United States consisted of praires, the
principal heritage of which was grass
es, and the existence of this vast do.
main of grassland has never been full
ly explained, since it has been dis
| covered that trees grow readily
enough on these praires once they
have been introduced there.
OF all the hay grasses cultivated in
United States, timothy is by far the
| most important, its acreage being four
times as great as that of all the others
put together, and equalling that of all
hay plants, including clover and al
falfa
Timothy had become the most i'm
! portant hay grass in the United
States as early as 1907 says Mr. Pip
er, land it has since held this position
| unchallenged. Its reputation as a feed
! depends upon its high palatability,
! combined with moderate nutritive val
ue, so that it is practically impossible
to injure an animal by over-feeding.
"Redtop is the only grass of much
! prominence as hay plant among TIL:
| many grasses belonging to the genus
Agrostis. It was early introduced into
! the American colonies. This grass
has been known under many common
names such as whitetop, florin, white
bent and herds grass, but as all OF
these names belong more properly to
other grasses they should not be useo
! for redtop. It is a perennial grass,
and natures at about the same time
as timothy
i Bermuda grass is the most import
ant pasture grass in the South, where
it shows marked preference for clay
ey soils, but grows more or less abund.
i antly on sandy soil. 1t occurs as ia:
north as Maryland, Kansas and the
warmer valleys of Washington or Ore
gon. In Virginia and Maryland where
1t is more troublesome as weed than
valuable as forage it is commonly
called wire grass"
4 Other important cultivated grasses
mentioned by Mr.. Piper are orchard
grass, carpet grass, Canada blue grass
tall meadow oat grass, meadow fes
cue, foxtail millet, Rhoades grass
Napier grass, sleeps fescue, red fes
cue, para grass, Japanese millet, Ital
ian rye grass Rhoad Island bent, Dial
las grass and Sudan grass.
Mr.. Piper does not discuss the prob