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iThere is another fpecies of this .Grafs called Red Dar- 

 nel, which is of a worfe nature than the firft, the 

 . ftalks growing hard much fooner,' and having nar- 

 ^ rower kaves. This is very commoh iri moft pafture 

 -.^:grounds, for as it comes early to flower, fo the feeds 

 are generally'ripe before the hay is cut, and from the 



■ 'falling feeds the ground is fupplied v/ith plenty of 

 • this fort ; therefore thofe who are defirous to keep 



■ their paftures as clear from this Grafs as 



- Inouid always mow it before the feeds are ripe/-.t.- 

 .'*Thi^ Grafs is ufually fowri with Clover, upon fuch 



lands as are defigned to be^'ploughed again m 'a. few 

 years, and the common : rhethod i^^tp fo\^ jt..,with 



- Spring Corn ; but from many, repeated trials, ^](^have 

 always found, that bv fowing thefe feeds in Aueuft, 



' vzhen there has happened a few fhowers to bring up 

 ; the Grafs, that the crop has an fwe red much better than 

 : any which has been fown in the common way ■, for the 

 .Grafs has often been To rank, as to afford a good feed 

 the fame autumn ^ and the following fpring ther? has 

 been a ton and a half of hay per acre mo\yed very 

 , early in the feafon, and this has been upon cold four 

 land i fo that lam convinced of that being the Sell 

 feafon forfowing thefe Graffcs, though it will be very 

 difficult to^perluade thofe perfons to alter their prac- 

 tice, who have been long.wt^dded to old cuftoms. The 

 "^quantity of feeds. which I a.llo\s(.to. an acre is about 

 two bufliels,jind eight pounds.of the common Clover, 

 ^h:ch, together, will mal^e as good plants upon the 





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' the oTOund two fpits and a fhovelling deep, turfiing j 

 all the couch into the bottom, where it will ror, arui 

 never fhoot up ; but this can only be praccifed, v.'herc 

 there is a fufficient depth of foil i for in ihallow ground 

 the roots cannot be buried fo deep, as to lie below 

 the depth to which they naturally ihoot. .-j 

 Where the roots of this Grafs get poffcflion in ara- 

 ble fields, it is very difficult to root out again -, the 

 ufual method is by laying the land tallow in fummer, 

 and frequently harrowing it well over to draw out the 

 roots: where this is carefully praftifed, the ground 

 may be fo well cleaned in one fummer, as that tlie 

 roots cannot much injure the crop which may be fown 

 upon it •, but fuch land ihould be cropped with Eeans, 

 Peas or fuch things as require the horfe-hoeing cul- 

 ture • for v/hcre the land can be frequently ftirred and 

 harrowed afterward, it will be of great fervice in 

 clcaninfy it from the roots of this Grais and other bad 

 weeds. ^The blade of this Grafs is fo rough, that cat- 

 tle will not feed upon it. ^ ; 



. The fecond fort is frequently cultivated,, efpecially 

 inftron"- cold land, upon which this Grafs will fuc- 



■ ' ceed better than any other fpecies, and is an earlier j 



• feed in the fpring •, but this is a vei^ coarfe Grafs, 



and unlefs it is cut very early for hay, it becomes hard 



and wiery in the ftalks, fo that few cattle care to eat 



it ; for this fpecies has but few leaves, running all to 



• ftalk, fo is ufually called Bents, and in forne counties 



- Bennet •, when this grafs is fed, it will be proper to 

 mow off the Bents in the beginning of June, other- 



- .wife they will dry upon thcground, and have the ap- 



pearance of a ftubble field all the latter part of fum- 

 m.er ; fo that ft will not only be. very difagreeable to 

 the fight, but alfo be troublefome to the cattle that 

 feed on it, by tickling their noftrils ^ (o that the 



: want of better pafture only, will force them to eat of 

 the young Grafs which fprings up between thefe Bents, 

 •for thofc they will not touch j therefore thofe who 



, ,fuppofe that thefe are eaten in fcarcityof feed by the 

 cattle, are greatly miftaken ; for I have many years 

 xlofely attended to this, and have always found thefe 



• * Bents remaining on the ground untouched, till the 

 ■ .iroft, rain, and winds, dellroy it in winter j and, by 

 ' permitting thefe to ftand, the after-growth of the 



Grafs is greatly retarded, and the beautiful verdure 

 ' is loft for three or four months -, fo that it is good 

 huft)andry to mow them before they grow too dry, 

 and rake them off the ground : if thefe are then 

 made ihtcT the' hay, it will ferve for cart-horfes or 

 "cows feed in winter, and will pay the expence of mow- 



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ground as can lie 



dL-nred ; but this is not to be p^ac- 

 tiicd upon fuch lands v/here the beauty of the verdure 

 is principally rcg.;rded, tliercfore is fic 



have onlv profit in view. 

 The third 

 of Grafs io 



for thofc w!iO 



and fourLh forts are the two bcft fpecies 

 r paftures, fo that if the [t:t^d% of thcfc were 

 carefully collected and i'oww fcparately without zwy 

 other mixture of Grafs-feeds, they v/ould not only af- 

 ford a greater quantity of feed on the fame fpacc of 

 land, but the Grafs would alfo be better, the hay 

 fwecter, and tlie verdure more lafting than of anv 

 other forts ; but there requires fome attention to tb.c 

 faving of thefe feeds pure without mixture. I have 

 tried to lave the (^i:C\^ of feveral Ipecies of Grafs fe- 

 paratcly, in order to determine their qualities, but 

 have found it \xxy difficult to keep them diftinft in 

 gardens where the feeds of other forts of Grafs have 

 been fcattered ; the only miCthod in which I could fuc- 

 ceed, v/as by fowing each fpecies in a diftind; pot, 

 and when the plants carnc up, to weed out all the 

 other kinds oi Grafs. which came up in the pots ;. by 

 this means I preferved a areat variety of the eraiTv 



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tribe feveral years, but not having ground enough 

 to propagate the mofc ufcful fpecies in any quantity, 

 I was obliged to abandon the purfuic : but I muft:. re- 

 commend this to perfons of leifure and Ikill who have 

 a fuificient quantity of land for the purpofe, to ca>ry 

 this projeft into execution, which may be of fingular 

 benefit to the public \ for v/e have an inftance of the 

 advantage which the iiihabitants of the Netherlands 

 have made, by faving the feeds of the White Clover, 

 orHdncyfuckle Trefoil, which is a plant common to 

 moft of the Englifii paftures ; yet few perfons in this 

 country ever Mve thexmfclves the trouble to colleft 

 the feeds from the fields for fowing, but have pur- 

 chafed vaft quantities of this feed annually, at a co'n- 

 fiderable price from Flanders,* where the peafants have 

 been fo induftrious, as to collefl: the feeds and fow 

 great quantities of land v/ith it, vvith a view of fale to 

 this country only. This is not an inconfiderable ar- 

 ticle in huft^andry, but dcferves the attention of all 

 thofe, who, by choice or otherwife, are engaged in 

 the bufmefs of agriculture ■, for one acre of land v/ill 

 produce as much feeds of this fpecies of Trefoil, as 

 will fell for 12 1. where k is well planted and faved 

 from the fpring crop; and if the Grafs-feeds before- 

 mentioned were feparately fown, and carefully weeded 

 from all other fpecies, and permitted to ftand till 



ds were ripe, it might be of equal ad van- ^ 



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their fee 



tage'with the other, efpecially now, when every gen- 

 tleman is cndeavourins; to improye the verdure near 



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their habitations. . _«., .. , 

 The fifth and fixtn forts are alfo very 

 for paftures^and hayeperennial foots, fo are the next 

 beft forts for fowang to thofe before-mentioned, which, 

 in rhy opinion, aeftr^e^tl^e preference to all the 

 other-, but as it will ,be difficult to fave ^ fufEcient 

 quantity of feeds of thofe alone, to fupply^tlrc^de- 

 mand which may be for their feeds ; io thefe two ipe- 

 cies may be admitted in aid of the other^ as they are 

 very leafy kindsof Grafs, and their ftalks do not be- 

 coine ftiff and harfti like many other fpecies, but with ' 



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proper care may be made very fine •, and, if duly 

 rolled, their roots \ylll ^mat and form a very clofe 

 fward, therefore thefe ft:iould be included in the num- 

 ber of fown Grafies. 



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', The feventh fort is mehtiohea for the fake of variety, 

 and not for ufe ; this hath an ahhtialfobti* which fends 

 up many broad hairy leaves, between;w;lftch arife flen- 

 der ftifl" ftalks from a foot to near tv/o two feet high, 



, dividing upward into a large loofeDanicle, garniflied 

 with heart'|iiapedfmail<fi^jkes, each having about fe- 

 venteen fmall fiofcules or florets-, thefej after the 

 flowers are paft, have a fingle feed fuccecding them -, 



;.the heads hang by flendei" long foct-ftalks, which are 



; moved by every wind, fo that they generally appear 

 fhaking, from whence it. had the title of Quaking 

 jGrafs. There ^are four fpecies of this Grafs, two of 

 them erow naturally In England •, and thefe Grafles 

 comine to head in May, occauoned the following 



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