102 HORTUS GKAMINEUS WOBURNENSIS. 



other ; on the contrary, those of the //. lanatus arc in 

 dense tufts. The awn in the lauatus is hid in the 

 calyx ; but in the mollis it protrudes out of the calyx ; 

 it is also twisted and knee-bent, like that of an avena. 

 The panicle of the huiatus is generally of a reddish 

 pmple colour, tinged with green, or, when growing 

 under the shade of trees, of a whitish green colour. 

 The panicle of the h. mollis is always of a pale whitish 

 green colour. 

 Perennial. Native of Britain. 

 Experiments. — At the time of flowering, the produce 



from a sandy soil is 34,031 lbs. per acre. 

 The proportional value in which the grass of the flowering 

 crop exceeds that of the seed crop, is as 9 to 7. 



The above details prove this grass to have merits which, 

 when compared with those of other species, rank it as one 

 of the superior grasses ; but then it produces little herbage 

 in the spring, and the latter-math is next to nothing. It is 

 also a very late grass, and whatever merit it may possess 

 with regard to a crop, at the time of flowering, it can only 

 be taken into the account in relation to the soil which natu- 

 rally produces it, which is a light barren sandy soil. If we 

 therefore compare its produce on such soils with that of other 

 grasses, it will prove superior; but there it must remain, 

 for on all other soils it will be found inferior to most 

 other grasses. The roots, when once in possession of the 

 soil, can hardly be again expelled without great labour 

 and expense. It is the true couch-grass of light sandy 

 soils. I have found roots five feet in length, the growth 

 of a few months only. The roots contain a very con- 

 siderable quantity of nutritive matter, which has the fla- 

 vour of new-made meal. Pigs are very fond of the roots, 

 and dig them up with eagerness. How far it might be ad- 

 vantageous to cultivate this grass on naked sands, for the 

 sake of the roots, I shall not presume to determine : but the 

 strong nutritive powers they possess, and the little expense 

 that woidd attend their culture, warrant the recommendation 

 of trial to those who may have such barren sands in their 

 possession. The herbage is apparently more disliked by cattle 



