C 7« ] 



If I had neglected to cultivate an intimate 

 acquaintance with them in their flowering ftate, 

 I fhouki, mod likely, have been deceived by 

 their appearance at feed time, and have gathered 

 improper fpecies. This I fufpected, and there- 

 fore took that neceflary precaution to guard 

 ^againft it. Befides, the feeds of molt of the grafTes 

 fall from the hulks within a very fhort time after 

 they are ripe, and many of them before to ap- 

 pearance they are fo: fo that if they are not care- 

 fully and conftantly watched, a few days neglect 

 will deprive you of the opportunity of collecting 

 them for the whole feafon. This, I am afraid, 

 will prove an obftacle not eafily to be furmounted 

 in the cultivation of fome of thefe grafTes ; though 

 there are others of them, which I believe will be 

 found the mod valuable, that do not come under 

 this predicament. 



Even with all my care and attention I have not 

 fucceeded to my wifhes. I could have wifhed to 

 have prefented to the Society a much larger col- 

 lection of the whole; being apprehenfive, from 

 the total deficiency of former years, that I fliall 

 at prefent prove to be the only labourer in this 

 harveft. But there is one fort, viz. the Meadow 

 Foxtail, in which I have been particularly unfor- 

 tunate; and this, through a defect: which I had 



no 



