Botany, 



381 



speak positively ; but, with regard to the latter (C. sfepiiim), the perfect seed- 

 vessels are still hanging on the old stems in various places in this neighbour- 

 hood in abundance; nor do I ever remember a year in which they were 

 not to be found; I have some now before me, collected in 1818. — 

 Daniel Stock. Bungay, Siifolk, March, 1828. [The C. sepium does not 

 seed freely, but there are few plants of it which do not produce one or 

 more persistent capsules. Last summer I raised some from seed hanging 

 dry on the plants the previous winter. — J. R.] 



Cause of the Smell of new-made Hay. — I have always taken it for granted 

 that the peculiar and beautiful scent of new-made hay was caused by the 

 Anthoxanthum odoratum. {fig. 172. cl\ A short time since I met with the 

 following extract from a work called Elements of the Science of Botany^ in 

 which this opinion is disputed. " Towards the latter end of June and the 

 middle of July, in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, this grass is brown 

 and dry down to the root, yet that sweet odour peculiar to hay while it is 

 making, is as powerful to the olfactory sense as in other counties, where it 

 is made at an earlier season, when this grass, at the time of mowing, may be 

 supposed to be in perfection. Another reason for objecting to the scent ex- 

 clusively proceeding from this grass is, that, in meadows where it does not 

 abound, no diminution of fragrance is perceived in the harvest ; it would 

 therefore seem, under the most favourable circumstances, only to contribute 

 its share, and not to be the sole cause of the fragrance of new-made hay. 

 The sweet odour of this grass resides in the stem, more particularly in the 

 joints, and not in the spike or flower." 



1 think the late mowing in Herefordshire and Worcestershire is not a 

 good reason for supposing that the hay is not indebted to this grass for its 

 sweet scent, for I know that the Anthoxanthum odoratum will retain some 

 of its fragrance for twelve months. Nor is the scarcity of this grass in any 

 particular field at all conclusive, for I conceive that, comparatively speak- 

 ing, a few plants would have the necessary effect. 



But, if the scent of new-made hay is not confined to the Anthoxanthum 

 odoratum, then it becomes a question, from what other grass does it pro- 

 ceed ? The following are the grasses which I have collected in this neigh- 

 bourhood and dried, and from none of them did I ever perceive the least 

 fragrance, except from the Anthoxanthum odoratum, and that which was 

 gathered last spring still continues to give out its delightful scent, though, 

 of course, fainter than at first. The names are from Smith's English Flora, 



172 



Anthoxanthum odoratum (a) 

 Phalaris /zrundinacea (jb) 

 Phleum pratense (<?) 



^lopecurus pratensis {d) ^gr6stis vulgaris (g) 

 ^lopecurus agr^stis (<?) ^Ira prae'cox {h) 



^lopechrus geniculatus(/) ^ira cristata (i) 



