Some Very Tall Grass
Buffalo Evening News July 7, 1901
Samples of some grass so tall that a man on horseback woul be buried from sight in a meadow of it, are features of the exhibit of Missouri in the Agriculture building. The most remarkable thing about them, aside from their dimensions, is the fact that they grew during the present summer.
They belong to a shipment received recently by Commissioner Garver, and which are designed to show what Missouri grasses and grains have been doing during the season of 1901. Among the samples are blue grass, 5 feet 4 inches tall; red top, 5 feet 7 inches tall; clover, 50 inches high; beardless barley, 55 inches; timothy, 5 feet 6 inches; rye, 7 feet 8 inches; slew grass, 10 feet and wheat, , 5 feet.
All of these are the products of Missouri bottom land, generally in Worth county. The only one on the list of grasses not suitable for feeding stock is the slew grass, which even the Missouri mule will not eat except when young and tender. It is widely used for thatching purposes, however, and lasts from three to four years.
Commissioner Garver is justly proud of Missouri's exhibit of tall grasses, not only because they are the tallest at the Exposition, but also and chiefly because they are the only samples of this year's crop in the building.