842 PLANTS OF NEW SOUTH "WALES, 



sufficiency of this grass, a little turned- by the sun, the working 

 powers of horses and cattle can be taxed to the utmost. They 

 keep in better condition, doing hard work, on this than on any 

 other description of native forage " ; and, then he adds, as a 

 caution, "If closely grazed by sheep or cattle (the former in 

 particular) all the year round, it soon dies out." Microlcena 

 stipoides is a delicate nutritious grass, vegetating freely during 

 the winter, and preserving its vitality in the summer. Of Stipa 

 and Aristida, the graziers do not think favourably, as the seeds 

 are not only injurious to the wool, but penetrate the skin of 

 sheep and sometimes kill them. A squatter says that he once 

 lost 800 out of 2000 lambs by placing them on a part of the run 

 where S. satacea abounded. Baron Mueller speaks of Cynodon 

 dactylon " as an excellent lawn grass," and " not without value 

 as a pasture grass." So far as the county of Cumberland is con- 

 cerned, C. dactylon or "Couch Grass " is perhaps the most valuable 

 of grasses, as it grows rapidly, resists great heat, and possesses 

 fattening properties. Some species of Banthonia, Chloris, 

 Sporobolus, Eragrostis, and Poa (especially E. tenella and P. 

 ccespitosa) are commended, but of Glyceria fluitans or the Manna 

 Grass, the Baron remarks, ' ' Excellent for stagnant water and 

 slow-flowing streams. The foliage is tender. The seeds are 

 sweet and palatable, and are in many countries used for porridge." 

 Festuca bromoides, though not regarded by some as indigenous, is 

 highly useful as it flourishes earlier in the spring than some of 

 those enumerated, and thus furnishes fodder when most required. 

 Bromus arenarius is much valued on runs in the interior, and, in 

 conjunction with other herbage, affords nutriment to cattle. 



The properties of our native grasses require to be investigated 

 thoroughly. In the Victorian Agricultural Report, a distinction 

 is made between those grasses which produce stearine and those 

 which produce fat. Amongst the former are reckoned Anthistiria 

 Poa, Festuca, Danthonia and Eriachne. It does not appear, how- 

 ever, that these grasses have been subjected to analysis, but it is 



