AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 279 



"Ray grass makes a superior lawn; but it must be cut often, otherwise it grows up too 

 coarse. Frequently cut, it becomes fine, and makes a softer, thicker, and more velvety turf 

 than any other grass we have yet seen cultivated in the United States." 



For hay, neither ray nor rye grass is equal to timothy or red-top ; they grow too coarse, 

 and become too dry and woody. 



Beach Grasses. 



Two varieties of grasses, adapted to prevent encroachment of the sea upon the coasts, 

 have been distributed, during the past year, by the Patent Office — the sea-reed, (Arundo 

 arenaria,) which affords a large amount of saccharine matter, compared with the produce of 

 other grasses ; and the upright sealyme grass, [Elymus arenarius,) named from its upright, 

 close spike, also affording a remarkable quantity of saccharine matter, averaging one-third 

 of its weight. The latter has hence acquired the name of the "British sugar-cane," and 

 must render hay very nutritious, particularly when cut into chaff and mixed with grain and 

 common hay. Experiments have, however, proved that the sea-reed is unworthy of cultiva- 

 tion as food for cattle out of the influence of the salt spray ; and the same remark is about 

 equally true in respect to the upright sealyme grass. But where the two grasses are sown 

 together in their natural place of growth, they prove of great utility, raising a barrier 

 against the encroachments of the ocean the most effectual and durable. The arundo are- 

 naria is applied likewise to several economical purposes, such as the making of hats, mats, 

 ropes, &c. 



These grasses should be planted on such parts of our coasts as may be threatened or be 

 suffering from encroachments of the sea, and upon sandbanks liable to changes and abrasion. 



On the Production of Gutta Percha. 



Mil. James Motley, who is now travelling in Sumatra and the adjacent islands, communi- 

 cates to Hooker's Journal of Botany the following information respecting the production of 

 Gutta percha. He says : Of -the original article very small quantities are now brought to 

 Singapore ; it has become a manufactured substance. A vast variety of gum, at various 

 prices, from three to thirty dollars a picul, is brought in by the natives. Some of these are 

 deep red, some quite white, and many of them are hardly coherent, breaking and crumbling 

 between the fingers. These are cut and broken up, and cleared from scraps of bark and wood 

 which are generally found among them ; they are then boiled in an iron pan with cocoanut-oil, 

 and stirred until thoroughly amalgamated ; this mixture is allowed to cool again, when it is 

 broken up and reboiled with more oil, sometimes as often as four times, or until the mass 

 acquires a certain tenacity. The good Gutta percha, sliced into thin shavings, is then added 

 in greater or less proportion, according to the quality of the basis, and the whole well mixed. 

 The Chinese who do this are very skilful, and manage to produce from a great variety of gums 

 a very uniform article, — wonderfully so, when it is considered that the gum is bought by the 

 merchants in very small quantities at a time, as the natives bring it in. 



There seems to be a great mystery about the Gutta percha trees ; I was in the heart of 

 their country, and yet could get nobody to show me a single tree. I think the fact is, that 

 they have all been long ago cut down within any reasonable distance of the settlements. I 

 saw large quantities of the gum, though none of the best quality on the Indragiri. I think I 

 can distinguish at least five sorts, which are probably the produce of different trees, or rather 

 five classes of gums, for perhaps the species are many more, and yet, though I offered great 

 inducements, I could not get even a leaf. 



Gum Benjamin. — The Gum Benjamin, another great staple here, I saw collected ; the trees 

 are about eighteen inches in diameter, with small, low buttresses to the roots ; these are notched 

 with a chopper, and produce the ordinary quality of the drug ; the best, of a light buff-color 

 and dense substance, is procured from wounds in the uncovered large roots, and the common 

 or Foot Benjamin, is procured from the trunk of the tree : the oil of the seeds is valued as an 

 application to boils; it is probably of little use. 



Twenty-two different plants are now registered as yielding Gutta percha. These are under 



