Prangos' Hay Plant. 8 



and sown on the eastern frontier of Kashmeer, where they vege- 

 tated, and where the plants of the first growth still remain in a 

 flourishing condition ; in the second instance, the seeds were 

 transported eastward, and sown upon rocks near Molbee, where 

 their plants flourished for about forty years, but in consequence 

 of a long period of drought, during which there fell scarcely either 

 rain or snow, the Prangos perished along with the crops of that 

 district in general. 



*' From various facts, it is conceived not unreasonable to pre- 

 sume that by the cultivation of this plant, moors and wastes, 

 hitherto uncultivated, and a charge of disgrace to British agri- 

 culture, may be caused to produce large quantities of winter fod- 

 der, and that the yield of highlands and of downs, enjoying a 

 considerable depth of soil, may be trebled. I have made every 

 precautionary arrangement in my power by presents, 8^c.y for ga- 

 thering, drying, packing, and transporting a large quantity of the 

 seed, and have left Mr. Guthrie, the apothecary, to superintend 

 the operations. One cask will be transmitted through Kashmeer, 

 and two others through Bushehar. And I take the liberty of sub- 

 mitting to the Most Noble the Governor-General in Council, the 

 probability of this plant being of use to the new settlers, our 

 countrymen, at the Cape of Good Hope, and to the colonists in 

 general. As the Prangos has hitherto been of spontaneous 

 growth alone, practices better adapted to the nature of the plant 

 or of the country may be adopted at a future time ; but from a 

 view of its habitudes in its wild state, I venture to suggest that 

 the seeds be dibbled singly into holes an inch deep and a foot 

 apart, a short time before the rainy season. 



" During three years the plants will be little productive, but 

 in that interim they will not be in the way of any other surface 

 crop." 



Judging from the specimens sent by Mr. Moorcroft, each plant 

 will produce about one and a half pound of dry fodder, which, 

 allowing each plant to occupy four feet of ground when in per- 

 fection, will give a produce for bad land of more than a ton and 

 three quarters each acre, which is nearly equal to the produce in 



B 2 



