314 ON THE TUSSAC GRASS. 



more uncertain and much slower method than that of plant- 

 ing" out suckers from the finest plants. 



[A plant so hardy and of such luxuriant g-rowth, should 

 it retain these qualities in this country, cannot fail to prove 

 a most important addition to our agricultural resources. It 

 is g'reen all the year round ; frost does not appear to injure 

 it, nor does snow cover it ; it is a soft, succulent, and highly 

 nutritious grass, extremely relished by all animals — cattle, 

 horses, sheep, and pig's. Cattle and horses fatten upon it in 

 a surprising- manner : they eat the w*hole blade, down to the 

 root, which they relish most : they will eat old dry tussac 

 thatch from oft' the roofs of houses. In the autumn of 

 1845, the Governor caused a g-overnment herd, consisting' of 

 800 head of cattle, and about 60 or 70 horses, to be placed, 

 for the winter months, on an island having- an area of, as 

 nearly as possible, 800 acres — about 400 were covered with 

 tussac g-rass — the remainder thinly covered with coarse 

 wing--g-rass and rush, a very Avretched piece of pasture-land, 

 aftbrding- scarcely any nutriment. The animals remained on 

 this island nearly six months, with no other nutriment than 

 what it aftbrded. The tussac was eaten down to the roots — 

 by the following- autumn it Avould have entirely recovered. 

 The quantity of the g-rass "injured, by being- trodden down 

 and eaten too close, is incredible; and the horses, from pre- 

 ferring- the root, do more mischief than the cattle."] 



The plant is of slow g-rowth, and would probably be three 

 years in coming- to perfection, during- which ]ieriod, however, 

 it might be cut annually with advantag-e. When once full 

 g-rown, it spring's up rapidl}' after being- cut down, the blades 

 reaching- their full heig-ht of 7 feet by the end of summer, 

 thoug-h cut down in the spring-. I lve})t u]) a favourite horse 

 in a loose box one winter, and had him fed entirely on 

 tussac, cut for him and g-iven g-reen. He ate it g-reedily, 

 and was always in excellent condition ; but as a general 

 rule, I should consider it soft food for a horse doing- any 

 work. 



When it is remembered that this invaluable provision of 

 nature thrives luxuriantly where scarcely any other vege- 

 tation wdll exist ; that it is most nutritious, and much 

 relished by cattle, it is impossible to resist feeling the most 

 earnest desire to see it extensively tried in those jiortions of 

 the United Kingdom which in climate and soil bear some 

 resemblance to the Falkland Islands. I might easily expa- 

 tiate on the extreme beauty of its vegetation, covering rocky 



