NATURAL HISTORY. 103 



the name "goose grass," by which it is more generally known 

 along the shores of Essex county and Cape Cod, having been 

 inadvertently omitted. It. is generally considered one of the 

 best products of the salt marsh when it grows in mixture 

 with other species of plants, as the black grass, for instance, 

 and deserves a more extended notice. 



It is very well known that large tracts of salt marsh are 

 nearly barren. Sometimes close cutting in the early morning, 

 while the dew is on the grass and when it cuts comparatively 

 easy, kills it out, and from that cause the marsh becomes bar- 

 ren. More often, however, excess of water, either upon the 

 surface or in the soil, from the proximity of ponds* which have 

 no outlet, causes barrenness. On all such tracts goose grass 

 springs up and dots the whole surface with circular patches of 

 green, which in shape are very like ringworms on the human 

 skin. This grass is seldom found alone except on these barren 

 tracts, and upon them it grows so short and thin as seldom to be 

 worth cutting. One will therefore never see any goose grass 

 hay except mixed with other kinds, and generally with black 

 grass. When these tracts begin to improve, either from draining 

 or from any other cause, other grasses make their appearance, 

 and the goose grass grows much more vigorous and becomes 

 valuable. This will continue to be the case for several years, 

 until the roots of the other grasses have taken entire possession 

 of the soil, when the goose grass disappears almost entirely and 

 bides its time, ready to appear again whenever from any cause 

 its intrusive competitors cease to exist. 



The hay made from the mixture of goose and other grasses 

 — among which black grass generally predominates — is a most 

 valuable fodder. The goose grass is so weighty that it takes 

 but a small quantity, comparatively, for a ton, and cattle eat it 

 with almost as much avidity as oats or any other grain. In 

 fact, no hay is more valuable than black grass with a largd 

 admixture of goose grass, when properly cured. 



The curing process requires care and time, for goose grass 

 is as full of sap as possible, and requires a much longer expos- 

 ure than black grass, while a very little wet when it is partially 

 cured, materially injures the black grass. 



We may judge of the properties of goose grass from the 



