nORTUS GIIAAllNEUS WOBUUNENSIS. 257 



All the sufiprior petcnnial grasses tliiive under irrigation, 

 wlien the meadow is jiroperly Ibraied. The follovviiio- species 

 of grass I have invariably found to constitute tlie produce of 

 the best water-meadows. Meadow fox-tail {cihpeairus pra- 

 toisis), round-panicled cock's-foot {dactylis glomerata), field 

 brorae-grass (hromus arvensis), meadow fescue (J'estuca j)ra- 

 iensis) ; these occupied the crowns and sides of the ridges. 

 The furrows were stocked with the creeping-bent {agroslis 

 rd.olo)nfera), mwv&h-hent {agrosi is palusli is), hard fescue (Jes- 

 tiica duriusciila), lesser variety of meadow cat's-tail (ph/eiim 

 pratense, var. i/tians), woolly soft-grass (/lolciis lai/alus), roiigh- 

 stalked meadow-grass (2)0(1 tiivialis), meadow-fescue (Jestitca 

 pratensis), and a small admixture of other species, which 

 were thinly scattered over every pait of the ridge ; these were, 

 meadow-barley (hordcam pra'ense), yellow or golden oat 

 {nveiiajlaresceiis), crested dog's-tail {cijiiosurus cristaliis), ray- 

 grass {loliiim percinie), sweet-scented vernal-grass {anthox- 

 anthinn adoration), tufted vetch (vicia cracca) : with a larger 

 proportion of the tall oat-like soft-grass {holcus avenaceiis). 

 The meadow cat's-tail (phleum pratense), I never met with in 

 irrigated meadows, but only the lesser variety of it, and that 

 not very prevalent. It is a very common grass, however, in 

 some natural meadows. The soil of the water-meadows 

 which produced the above grasses was either a deep active 

 peat, incumbent on a siliceous sand, or a sandy loam on a 

 chalky or gravelly sub-soil. In some irrigated meadows 

 that I examined, where the ridges were formed nearly flat, 

 and the soil consisterl of a sandy loam on a retentive clayey 

 sub-soil, the foUowino- orasses constituted the chief nroduce : 

 crested dog's-tail (cynosnrus crislatns), creeping-rooted soft- 

 grass {holcus mollis), ray-grass (lolium perenne), meadov. - 

 barley (/lordcinn, p?ate)ise), tall oat-like soft-grass {holcus acc- 

 jiaceus), sweet-scented vernal, and soft biome-grass (holcus 

 mollis). Though this soil was not entirely destitute of the 

 superior kinds of grasses mentioned as the produce of the 

 former meadows, yet they were in very small quantity, being 

 thinly scattered over certain portions of the ridges only. It 

 seems |)robahle that the flatness of the ridges tended much 

 to prevent these grasses from flourishing on the sandy loam 



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