IX CUTTING DOWN PLANTATIONS. 



297 



Coltsfoot (32) inhabits stiff plastic marly clay banks and 

 waste ground, and although it is not eaten in a green state by 

 cattle, yet it is used pretty extensively by small farmers in 

 Ireland for feeding pigs. It is prepared by being boiled and 

 mixed with a little cheap Indian meal, seasoned with salt. 

 When prepared in this way pigs relish it, and thrive as well as 

 when fed upon cabbage. The writer has used it for pig-feed- 

 ing and found it to be a wholesome, thrifty diet for store 

 pigs. 



Dogstail grass (10) is a hardy deep-rooting grass, which 

 thrives on stiff clay soil, but is better adapted for meadow than 

 pasture ; when used for the latter, if not kept closely down by 

 stock, it throws up a hard woody stem, which is both dry and 

 unnutritious, and is consequently discarded by sheep and cattle ; 

 ])ut when cut for hay, the root throws up a succession of sweet 

 tender leaves which are very nutritious, and much relished by 

 stock of all kinds. 



liib grass (30) inhabits stiff clay soils that have not been 

 thoroughly drained, as well as soils that retain any considerable! 

 amount of muisture by means of capillary attraction. It is quite 

 at home on such })laces among trees, and is a useful, hardy, 

 forage plant, but not adapted for hay. 



