10 Dec, 1917.] Victorian Grasses. 715 



Grass," usually attains a height of 2 to 3 feet, and prefei-s a heavy, stiff 

 soil. It is excellent pasturage for the summer season, yielding a large 

 quantity of forage, and it stands constant grazing better than most 

 grasses with which T am familiar. .1. refractiLS, " Turpentine Grass," is 

 found attaining a height of from 2 to 3 feet. It is fragrant, and may 

 j)robal)ly equal in coninuM-cial value .1. Krhananihus, "Lemon Grass," 

 from wliich the medicinal Sirri-oil is obtained and exported from India. 

 A. annulatus, "Kinged Beard Grass," is a handsome grass, valuable for 

 pastures and suitable for making hay. A. sericeus, " Silky Blue (irass," 

 is a good perennial pasture grass from 1 to 2 feet high, and grows pro- 

 fusely during the summer months. .1. affinis, " BroTvn Beard Grass," is 

 a good open pasture grass, yielding a fair amount of forage, and capable 

 ■of standing close feeding by stock. .1. homhijcinus, " Woolly Beard 

 Grass," an erect perem.ial grass, is highly spoken of by pastoralists as a 

 fattening grass for stock. Eleusinc cruciata, " Finger Grass," is a 

 valuable fodder grass, requiring a rich soil and, like other summer 

 grasses, it grows spontaneously after a year's cultivation. 



The handsome Pollinia fulva, " Browntop," with its long, tawny 

 spikes, deserves more than a passing notice. It is closely allied to the 

 Andropogons, some species of which it very much resembles. It is an 

 excellent pasture grass, and during the summer months, it produces a 

 great amount of herbage. Pappophorum nigricans, " Nigger Head," 

 is perennial, but affords only a small quantity of forage. Imperata 

 anindinacea, " Blady Grass," with its long white silky spikes, is very 

 conspicuous, and in its young state is relished by stock. It makes 

 ■excellent thatch, and is used by brickmakers in preference to any other 

 grass for protecting their bricks while wet. Eragrostis Broiunii, " Com- 

 mon Love Grass," a valuable grass readily eaten by stock, is perennial, 

 and on alluvial soils will yield a large amount of rich herbage. Another 

 of the perennial species is Amphipogon strictus, "Bearded Heads," 

 which is drought-resisting, and yields a fair amount of fodder. Of the 

 Panicums, P. Cms Galli, "Barnyard Grass," is an annual species 

 Attaining a height of 4 to 5 feet, and most suitable for moist situations. 

 It is valuable for cutting as greed feed. P. sanguinale, " Summer 

 Grass," is an annual of good value as fodder, but the seed must be so^vn 

 thickly to avoid rankness. It has been known to yield from 1 \ to 2 tons 

 per acre. P. decomposUiim, " Umbrella Grass," is valuable both for 

 pasture and fodder, and will succeed in any ordinary soil. P. divarita- 

 tissimum, " Spider Grass," which attains a height of from 1 to 2 feet, is 

 drought-resisting and nutritious, and is one of our most valuable 

 perennial grasses for laying down as permanent pasture. P. gracile 

 is a perennial species which makes excellent hay, and thrives in ordinary 

 soil. Ilemarthria co/npressa, " Mat Grass," a creeping perennial species, 

 straggling to a length of from 3 or 4 feet, and rooting at the joints, 

 affords a coarse fodder around swamps and the margins of rivers, and 

 is therefore useful in lands where these physical conditions obtain. Poa 

 cwspitosa, " Tufted Meadow Grass," is abundant in some localities, and 

 when young makes excellent forage ; when it is dry, stock avoid it if 

 other herbage is obtainable. Agropyrum srahrum, " Common Wheat 

 Grass," is plentiful in most places, and one of the earliest native grasses 

 of the spring. Deyeuxia Forsteri, " Toothed Bent Grass," is an annual, 

 found in many places, and in early spring it is rich and .succulent, and 



