106 



-which is, tliat the Bromus mollis produces an abundant crop 

 of the most prolific and hardy seed I know. 



It is the only grass seed 1 have tried which will grow after 

 a potatoe crop ; when we sow other grasses, even in Sep- 

 tember, though they should vegetate for a while, yet the 

 first sharp frost destroys the young tendril while the bromus 

 does not sustain the slightest injury. 



Hence in laying down our grounds with grass, when the 

 seed we have selected to clothe our ground with fails, either 

 totally or partially, the hardy bromus will supply its place, 

 and if the patches of naked stubbles be slightly loosened 

 even with a rake or harrow, and this seed sown, the farmer 

 will still have good meadow the ensuing year, and in the 

 one following, though the bromus be gone, we never fail to 

 find the sole well covered. 



My friend, the Honourable and Reverend Charles Knox, 

 has devisd a mode of turning this grass to profit, which 

 a priori seems very plausible. 



Residing in a blake and rather a wild country, good hay 

 is not easily procured, and oats are an article of prime neces- 

 sity ; thus circumstanced, Mr. Knox proposes to sow bromus 

 m.oUis with his oats, and the year following to mow its crop 

 for hay ; secure also of an abundant aftermath. 



The third year he recommences the same routine, thus 

 securing the two articles he stands most in need of, and 

 avoiding a too severe pressure upon his ground, he exactly 

 follows Virgil's directions. 



Altcrni* 



