44 



only just giving a sign of vegetation, therefore at a time when 

 practically nothing in the pasture-lands is there as yet for the 

 cattle to graze on. Apart from the fact, that all sorts of stock are 

 very fond of it, it is also for that reason one of the most useful 

 and valuable varieties and should, therefore, be used in a fair 

 proportion in mixtures for permanent pasture, where the soil is 

 fit for it. 



It does not thrive so well on lighter soils, though we have 

 witnessed several such lands, where the plants once being there, 

 maintained their presence very well indeed. We ascribe this mainly 

 to the combined causes of a moist atmosphere with frequent rain- 

 falls, the system of strongly manuring the pasture and of only 

 using it for grazing, not for hay-making purposes. Treated that 

 way, such lands receive sufficient assistence, to enable the Foxtail- 

 plants to thrive on them and maintain their presence there. 



Aiumophila arnndinacea (Sea-reed grass). A tuft-forming 

 grass growing from 40 tot 50 inches, with a rather hard stem and 

 a great many broad bottom-leaves. Scarcely of any agricultural or 

 nutritive value, it is found on sandy sea-shores and dunes only. 

 It is being used for sowing sandy regions and sandy hills near 

 the sea-side and similar tracts of land, with no other purpose than 

 to bind the soil together to prevent same from sliding away, its 

 chief characteristic being that of making exceptionally deep roots, 

 very often as deep as 4 yards, thus being a good means for bin- 

 ding such loose soils together and giving some firmness to them. 



\nHio\aiilliiiiii otloratiim (Sweet-scented Vernal, true peren- 

 nial variety). The most early grass in the pasture-lands. It grows 

 from 20 to 25 inches in rather even tufts, and as it has the habit 

 even there where it predominates to make a thickly-covered turf, 

 shooting forth an abundance of stems, it gives a fair quantity of 

 bottom to the hay, if the field is destined for the purpose of hay- 

 making. 



It is indispensible in meadows for grazing purposes, as at the 

 moment when first the cattle are brought on the fields early in 

 spring when, generally speaking, there is a shortness of grass, 

 the later varieties not yet having started to develop, this variety 

 is there and provides the first young fodder for the cattle. It 

 thrives both on heavy and lighter, even on sandy soils and, if the 

 latter be well-manured, even luxuriantly there. 



