9B 



up, while parts of it have been under grass for t*vent_y-two,_ 

 and others, for thirty years; during all the latter part of which 

 time it had been fed upon by sheep. 



My desire to know what species of grasses occupied a sole 

 of so long standing, induced me, two years ago, to let my 

 lawn run to meadow. 



When the panicles began to shew, I found Dacft/lis in abund- 

 ance in all parts of the ground ; and, soon after it was mowed, 

 1 found the pale leaves of this grass, as usual, outstripping 

 the others every where. 



Now, as I had never observed a panicle of Dactylis in my 

 lawn, when in pasture, among the brown stems of the Cy- 

 •jwsui-tis cristatus (always rejected by cattle) which disfigure 

 our fields so much, nor could distinguish the Dactylis by its 

 crimped leaf or any other marks, we have demonstration that 

 it was consumed equally with my other grasses ; and since its 

 earliness, luxuriance, and strong powers of reproduction, are 

 already fully established, we cannot doubt that, while the 

 lawn was pastured, the Dactylis contributed more largely than 

 any other to the maintenance of nay stock. 



The excellence of this grass is well known in America, 

 where it is distinguished by the same name given to it in some 

 parts of England, Orchard Gi^ass, an apposite nan)e, as it 

 bears tiie shade of trees better than any other grass except the 

 Irish Fiorin. 



111. Festuca 



