BENT GRASS (AS. beottot, found in compo sition only, US. Uinta OHG. binnz, Ger. Binse, rush; possibly OHG. bi, by + 710; Ger. nass, wet ; literally: that which grows in wet places), Agrostis. A genus of grasses, the species of which are numerous, and are found in almost all countries and climates; several are natives of Great Britain. All of them are grasses of a slender and delicate appearance. Some are very useful as pasture grasses and for hay, on account of their adaptation to certain kinds of soil. The species Agrostis alba, Agrostis vulgaris, and Agrostis stolonifera are often separated, al though the last two are little more than varieties of Agrostis alba. The common bent grass (Agrostis vnlgaris) forms a principal part of the pasture in almost all the elevated districts of Great Britain, and is equally abundant in many parts of the Continent of Europe. It re sists drought better than almost any other grass, but is only sown by agriculturists on soils unsuitable for the more luxuriant grasses. It is also regarded as very suitable for lawns. It is as frequent on wet as on dry soils, and varies much in size and appearance. The marsh bent grass (Agrostis alba), also very common in Great Britain, forming a large part of the natu ral pasture in many moist situations, is very similar to the species just described, but gen erally taller and stouter. A variety with some
what broader leaves and a more luxuriant habit of growth was at one time much celebrated among agriculturists, under the name of florin grass, or creeping bent grass (.tgrostis stolo nifera). It is a useful grass in moist grounds, newly reclaimed bogs, or land liable to inunda tion. The first three or four joints of the eulms lie flat on the damp soil, emitting roots in abundance, and it was formerly propagated by chopping these into pieces and scattering them, but now generally by seed. Brown bent grass (Agrostis eanina), a common perennial British grass, abundant in moist heaths and moorish grounds, is valuable for mixing with other grasses to form permanent pasture on poor, wet, peaty soils. In the United States it is com monly known as Rhode Island bent grass, and is considered one of the best of lawn grasses. Silky bent grass (Agrostis spica renti) is a beautiful grass, with very slander branches to its ample paniele, which, as it waves in the wind, has a glossy and silky appearance. It is a rare native of sandy grounds in England, com mon in Southern and Central Europe; it is an annual grass, occasionally sown in spring to fill up blanks in grass fields.