MEADOWS. 113 



CHAPTER xi. 



OF MEADOWS. 



Hofticufiure, 



THESE are either natural or artificial^ the former 

 containing only plants of spontaneous growth, the ' 

 latter those selected, sown, and cultivated by man. 

 The better to keep this distinction in view.'we shall 

 speak of them separately ; and, 



I. Of Natural Meadows. 



These have been classed by botanists according 

 to their elevation ; and have thence been denomina- 

 ted high, middling, and low. But as this principle 

 fails altogether to indicate their agricultural charac- 

 ter and properties,* a better one has been found in 

 their relative moisture ; whence they are denom- 

 inated dry, or moist, or wet. The products of these 

 have been carefully and skilfully analyzed in Ger- 

 many, in Italy, in England, and in France ;f and the 

 result shows that wet meadows contain a smaller 

 number of the different species of plants, but a 

 greater number of those which are either useless 

 or injurious; and, on the other hand, that moist 

 meadows contain a greater number of the- former, 

 and a smaller number of the latter. The following 

 simple table exhibits, at a glance, the present stale 

 of knowledge on this important part of our subject : 

 Whole number of Plants 



in wet meadows, 30 ; useful 4, useless or bad 26. 

 Do. in dry meadows, 38 ; do. 8, do. 30. 



Do. in moist meadows, 42 ; do. 17, - do. 25. 



* We often find bogs on the tops of mountains, and arid sands 

 on the banks of rivers. 



t See " Observations mat.e by the Agricultural Society of 

 Great Britain," and " Memciires sur I'Agriculture du Bouton- 

 nais," &c., &c., per M. Dumont de Coursit. 



