F10RIN- GRASS FINE BENT-GRASS. 425 



Its typical form is found in meadows, pastures, and dry sandy 

 ground, and it is even met with 2000 feet above the sea-level. 

 It grows also in peaty and other moist soils, by the sides of 

 streams, wet pastures, and adjacent to rivers overflowed by 

 fresh-water tides ; the variety met with in these humid situa- 

 tions is known as the A grostis palustris. 



It cannot be described as a useful grass except in soils and 

 situations where more valuable grasses do not succeed, such as 

 on the margins of bogs. It is eaten by cattle, and they are fond 

 of it as forage or hay on account of its joints being sweet to 

 the taste. It is recommended as one of the plants to be sown 

 in lands in preparation for irrigation, and in improved deep 

 mossy ground intended to be kept in grass, the proportion of 

 seed by weight for an imperial acre being from 1J Ib. to 

 2f Ib. The seeds are minute ; a bushel has an average weight 

 of 13 Ib. ; and the average number of seeds in an ounce is 

 500,000. 



No exact chemical analysis of this grass appears to be re- 

 corded. From the deficiency of succulence in the stem and 

 leaves, and the minuteness of the seeds, it is manifest that the 

 whole plant must contain an unusual proportion of ligneous 

 deposit in the cellular structure, so as to leave but a small 

 residue fit for nourishment. At the bog of Allen in Ireland it 

 yields COO stones of hay per imperial acre. A plant of this 

 grass has been measured in Ireland to the length of 10 feet. 



The Agrostis vulgaris, or common fine bent-grass or black 

 switch, is a creeping- rooted perennial, which flowers in the first 

 week of July and ripens its seed in the second week of August. 

 It grows on dry pastures, moors, waste grounds, woods, and 

 hilly situations, sometimes reaching an elevation of near 2000 

 feet above the level of the sea. It is often a troublesome weed 

 on elevated light lands. In hand-gathering it from the soil, 

 if the smallest piece of the root is left in the soil, it will soon 



