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G R A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL: 



GR A 



ready way, according to a late writer, is for the farmer to 

 notice that species of grass most affected by his soil, and 

 carefully to gather the seed from a piece of old meadow, 

 purposely left three or four weeks longer than common, or 

 at least long enough to become sufficiently ripe. He should 

 not scruple the trouble of selecting the heads as they lie in 

 the swathe ; but they who desire not to be so particular, will 

 thresh out the seed together, either in the field, or before it 

 shall have been heated in the mow. Good seeds of different 

 sorts of grasses may now also be procured from different 

 seedsmen in large towns, and other places ; but the collec- 

 tion, sold under the title of hay-seeds, should never be 

 trusted to in any respect. Mr. Curtis, from the numerous 

 applications that were made to him by gentlemen for grass- 

 seeds, was induced to select such as appeared to him the 

 most useful, and thereby render the public an essential 

 service. He wished, at least, to put in their power to decide 

 on a matter which had been long agitated, and which he was 

 far from being the only one that entertained the sanguine 

 hopes of its proving a great national advantage. The grasses 

 he has recommended, will, he is confident, do all that our 

 natural grasses can do : they are six of those which consti- 

 tute the bulk of our best pastures ; most of them are eariy, 

 all of them are productive, and they are adapted to such soils 

 and situations as are proper for meadows and pastures. They 

 are, however, in common with other plants, liable to produce 

 small or great crops, according to particular seasons, or to 

 the fertility or barrenness of the soil on which they are sown 

 and cultivated. The names of these grasses, with the order 

 of their flowering, is as follows. 1. Sweet-scented Vernal: 

 2. Meadow Fox-tail : 3. Smooth-stalked Meadow : 4. Rough- 

 stalked Meadow : 5. Meadow Fescue : 6. Crested Dog's-tail. 

 The Meadow Fox-tail, and Rough-stalked Meadow Grass, are 

 fittest for moist land ; the Meadow Fescue, or Sweet-scented 

 Vernal, are the most proper for land, either moist or moderate- 

 ly dry ; and the Smooth-stalked Meadow Grass, and Crested 

 Dog's-tail, are those that are best suited for dry pastures, and 

 other similar lands. Mr. Curtis observes, that many more 

 grasses might be deservedly added to the above list, but ex- 

 presses his doubts, whether by recommending more, he might 

 not increase the difficulty of introducing grass-seeds, with- 

 out any adequate advantage in return. We shall, however, 

 subjoin a list of other grasses, which may be useful to those 

 agriculturists who wish to obtain all possible information 

 upon the subject. 1. Avena elatior, or Tall Oat Grass. It is 

 early, very productive, affording a plentiful aftermath ; and, 

 for its excellence, approaches to the Alopecurus Pratensis, 

 for which it may prove a good substitute : 2. Avena flaves- 

 cens, or Yellow Oat Grass ; affecting dry soils ; it is rather 

 early, and tolerably productive: 3. Bromus mollis, or South 

 Brome Grass ; this, as an early grass, might probably be culti- 

 vated to advantage, but, like other grasses, it sheds the seeds, 

 and withers before the whole is ready for mowing : 4. Cynosurus 

 cojruleus.or Blue Dog's-tail Grass; this is the earliest of all our 

 grasses, but is neither productive nor of a good quality: 5. Dacty- 

 lis glomeratns, or Rough Cock's-foot Grass; a rough, coarse, 

 but extremely hardy and productive grass, common in orchards 

 and meadows, and appearing rather early : 6. Festuca ovina, 

 Sheep's Fescue Grass ; native of dry elevated heaths and com- 

 mons, unproductive, with a hard and wiry foliage; it grows 

 to be only a small plant, even in a rich moist soil: 7. Hor- 

 deum murinum, Wall Barley Grass, or Squirrel-tail Grass; 

 common by walls, and the sides of paths. It is very injuri- 

 ous to horses, when mixed among their hay, by the awns or 

 beards of the ears sticking in their mouths : 8. Hordeum pre- 

 tense, or Meadow Barley Grass ; taller and more delicate, 



sometimes forming great part of the crop in good meadows. 

 It is neither very early, nor remarkably productive, and 

 would probably be as injurious to horses as the preceding 

 sort : 9. Holcus lanatus, or Meadow Soft Grass ; hardy and 

 productive, flowering a month later than the Anthoxanthum ; 

 foliage soft and woolly: 10. Holcus mollis, or Creeping Soft 

 Grass; it grows well in sandy soils, and bears drought: 11. 

 Lolium perenne, or Ray Grass ; wiry, with little foliage in 

 upland pastures, but in rich meadows its foliage is abundant, 

 and of rapid growth : 12. Poa annua, or Dwarf Meadow 

 Grass ; perpetually flowering, and seeding most rapidly, unless 

 prevented by cold, growing in almost any soil or situation, 

 but never acquiring any great height; its foliage is tender, 

 and grateful to cattle, but liable to be killed by winter's 

 frost, and summer's drought: 13. Phleum pratense, or Mea- 

 dow Cat's-tail Grass; imported from America, under the name 

 of Timothy Grass. It is very productive in wet situations, 

 but coarse in quality, and late in appearance, beside having 

 no one excellence which Alopecurus pratensis does not pos- 

 sess in an equal or superior degree : 14. Triticum repens, 

 CreepingWheat Grass, Quick, orCouchGrass. Too well known 

 to farmers and gardeners, as an early, but most troublesome 



weed. Grass for meadows and pastures. The land on 



which grass-seed is intended to be sown, should be well 

 ploughed, and cleared from the roots of noxious weeds, such 

 as Couch Grass, Fern, Rushes, Heath, Gorse, Broom, Resthar- 

 row, &c. which, if left in the ground, will soon get the bet- 

 ter of the grass, and overrun the land. Therefore, in such 

 places where any of these weeds abound, it will be a good 

 method to plough up the surface in April, and let it lie some 

 time to dry ; then harrow the roots into small heaps, and burn 

 them. The ashes so produced, when spread on the land, 

 will be a good manure for it ; but where Couch Grass, Fern, 

 or Restharrow, is in plenty, the land must be twice or thrice 

 deeply ploughed in dry weather, and the roots carefully har- 

 rowed off after each ploughing, which is the surest means of 

 destroying them : where the land is low, and of a stiff clayey 

 nature, which holds water in winter, it will be of singular 

 service to make some underground drains, to carry off the 

 wet, which, if detained too long on the ground, will turn 

 the grass sour. The method of making these drains is 

 described under the article Meadow; which see. Before the 

 seed is sown, the surface of the ground should be made level 

 and fine, otherwise the seed will be buried unequally. When 

 the seed is sown, it must be gently harrowed in, and the 

 ground rolled with a wooden roller, which will smooth the 

 surface, and prevent the seeds from being blown into patches. 

 When the grass comes up, if there should be any bare spots 

 where the seed has not grown, they may be sown again, and 

 the ground rolled, which will fix the seeds, and the first 

 kindly showers will bring up the grass, and make it very 

 thick. Where the land is designed to continue in pasture, 

 it should be sown with the best sorts of grass seeds, and 

 white Dutch Clover, or what is commonly called Honey- 

 suckle Grass in many parts of England ; but there is a great 

 difficulty of procuring good seeds, which can only be re- 

 moved by selecting the best sorts in the manner already 

 described ; for in the all good pastures near London, which 

 abound with the best sorts of grass, the hay is commonly 

 cut before the seeds of the grass are ripe ; so that those seeds 

 which are procured from the stables where the horses are 

 fed with the best sort of hay, are little more than chaff, or at 

 best are only such as are of the early kinds of grass, with a 

 great quantity of Plantain, and other weeds, which has dis- 

 couraged many gentlemen from sowing them : and as it re- 

 quires more time and attention to collect a sufficient quantity 



