GRASSES 27 



grows from one foot to two feet high, if left unmolested for a 

 time. In some districts, in any ordinary season, three crops 

 may be cut if the grass is grown under the close paddocking 

 system, and if they are dried quickly they make splendid hay, 

 which if carefully stacked will keep in excellent condition for 

 several years. Stock are remarkably fond of this hay, 

 and most animals fatten readily on it. Couch grass makes 

 valuable permanent pasture, for it is not much affected by 

 dry weather, close grazing, or frequent trampling by stock. 

 In the coast districts, where frosts are not severe, it is the best 

 native grass for making lawns. It is also valuable for binding 

 loose sand, consolidating earth banks, and protecting river 

 banks from erosion by the fury of flood waters. The seeds 

 of this grass should never be sown nor the roots planted 

 except in places where the grass is to remain permanently, 

 for its underground stems when once they become well 

 established in the soil are most difficult to eradicate; con- 

 sequently in cultivation this grass is regarded as a pest. 

 Cattle and sheep thrive on its underground stems, which are 

 said to possess some of the medicinal properties of sarsap- 

 arilla. Surgeon Thornton says: "The expressed juice is 

 astringent, and is used as an application to fresh cuts and 

 wounds. It is also diuretic, and is used in cases of dropsy 

 and anasarca, also as an astringent of chronic diarrhoea and 

 dysentery. ' ' Surgeon Houston says : ' ' The juice of the 

 green grass is useful in catarrhal ophthalmia, is astringent, 

 used also with much benefit in haematuresis. " Mueller and 

 Rummel give the following chemical analysis made on the 

 very early spring growth of this grass : Albumen, 1.60 ; 

 gluten, 6.45 ; starch, 4.00 ; gum, 3.10 ; sugar, 3.60 per cent. 

 Early Spring Grass (Eriochloa punctata) occurs in all the 

 Australian States from the coast to the far interior, and in 

 many districts it is fairly plentiful. It grows from two to three 

 feet high, and on various classes of good land, and on rich, 



