134 ENGLISH STRAW PLAT. [No. 



not in the country given to these sorts of grass. The 

 Florin grass, the Yellow Oat-grass, and the Brown- 

 Bent, are all called couch-grass; except that the latter 

 is, in Sussex, called Red Robin. It is the native grass 

 of the plains of Long Island ; and they call it Red 

 Top. The Ray-grass is the common field grass, 

 which is, all over the kingdom, sown with clover. The 

 farmers, in a great part of the kingdom, call it Bent, 

 or Bennett, grass; and sometimes it is qalled Darnel- 

 grass. The Crested Dog^s-tail goes, in Sussex, by 

 the name of Hendonbent; for what reason I know 

 not. The sweet-scented Vernal-grass I have never, 

 amongst the farmers, heard any name for. Miss 

 WOODHOUSE'S grass appears, from the plants that I 

 saw in the Adelphi, to be one of the sorts of Couch- 

 grass.. Indeed, I am sure that it is a Couch-grass, if 

 the plants I there saw came from her seed. My son, 

 who went into Connecticut, who saw the grass grow- 

 ing, and who sent me home a specimen of it, is now 

 in England : he was with me when I cut the grass 

 in Sussex; and he says that Miss WOODHOUSE'S was 

 a Couch-grass. However, it is impossible to look at 

 the specimens of straw and of plat which I have sent 

 you, without being convinced that there is no want 

 of the raw material in England. I was, after my first 

 hearing of the subject, very soon convinced that the 

 grass grew in England ; but I had great doubts as to 

 the capacity of our sun. Those doubts my own ex- 

 periments have completely removed ; but then I was 

 not aware of the great effect of the scalding, of which, 

 by the way, Miss WOODHOUSE had said nothing, and 

 the knowledge of wrnch we owe entirely to my son 

 James' journey into Connecticut. 



P. Having thus given you an account of the time 

 and manner of cutting the grass, of the mode of cut- 

 ting and -bleaching ; having given you the best ac- 

 count I am able, as to the sorts of grass to be em- 

 ployed in this business ; and having, in my former 

 communications, given you specimen^ of the plat 

 wrought from the several sorts of straw, I might here 

 close my letter ; but as it, may be useful to speak of 



