

YALE AGRICULTUEAL LECTURES. 133 



it give only nineteen and three-quarters pounds of dry hay. 

 An acre only yields three-quarters of a ton of dry hay. It 

 starts very early in the spring, and continues to throw out leaves 

 during the summer. Its after-math is more valuable than the 

 first growth, and is supposed to communicate the peculiar fla 

 vor which characterizes the Philadelphia butter. 



Glyceria nervata grows in wet places. Its culms (stalks) 

 are extremely succulent; it is the hardiest grass in existence, 

 and always grows more vigorously after a severe winter than 

 after a mild one. 



Poa serotina, or Fowl-meadow, is one of the earliest grasses 

 cultivated in this country, and is still among the best. It does 

 not injure by standing, as do other grasses; but may be cut at 

 almost any time. Hares and rabbits are extremely fond of it. 

 It is easily made into hay, and never seems hard or harsh, and 

 produces sound seeds in great abundance. 



Trisetum subspicatum is a mean, stingy grass, growing on 

 stiff, clayey hill-sides which have a northern aspect. It is only 

 fit to be grown on soils that will bear nothing else. 



Zizania aquatica. Mr. Gould spoke of this grass as grow 

 ing in places that were wholly covered with water. It is very 

 sweet and nutritious, and cows fed upon it have a copious flow 

 of milk. In favorable situations it produces five or six tons to 

 the acre, growing to the height of nine feet. Many birds, es 

 pecially the rail, fatten on it in autumn. The Indians collected 

 its seeds, which resemble rice, and stored them for winter use. 



Mr. Gould spoke at great length of the clovers, detailing 

 many interesting facts in relation to them, and giving much 

 practical advice respecting their cultivation. He especially re 

 commended the increased culture of lucerne (medicago sativa). 

 The best soil for it is a sandy one, resting on a porous calcare 

 ous subsoil. Its roots penetrate fourteen feet in depth, and 

 hence a hard subsoil is fatal to successful growth. It arrives at 

 its greatest perfection after three years. In one recorded case, 

 eleven acres sufficed to keep eleven horses two hundred and 



