144 HORTUS GRAMINEUS WOBURNENSIS. 



to this one : it comes early in the spring, but the produce is in- 

 considerable, compared to many other grasses ; its strong creeping 

 roots exhaust the soil very much : after Midsummer the herbage 

 is slow in growth after being cropped. It is the property of all 

 creeping roots to scourge the soil, and when plants with fibrous 

 roots can be substituted in the place of those, with an equal pro- 

 spect of advantage in regard to early growth, produce, and nutri- 

 tive qualities, it will be found to repay the labour with interest. 

 As the chief property that gives value to this grass is early growth, 

 it will be of use to compare the merits of two other grasses which 

 possess this property of early growth in common with it. 



Ibs. per Acre. 



Anthoxanthum odoratum. Sweet-scented vernal- 

 grass, at the time of flowering, affords of nu- 

 tritive matter 122^ 

 At the time the seed is ripe, affords of nutri- / 



tive matter 31 1 > 672 



The produce of latter-math affords of nutritive 



matter 239 



Poa pratensis. Smooth-stalked meadow-grass, as above, 



affords of nutritive matter - 590 



The weight of nutritive matter, by which the produce 

 of the sweet-scented vernal exceeds that of the 

 smooth-stalked meadow-grass, is therefore 82 



Poa trivialis. Rough-stalked meadow-grass, at 

 the time of flowering, affords of nutritive 

 matter 233 



At the time the seed is ripe, affords of nutritive 



matter 336 > 792 



The produce of latter-math affords of nutritive 



matter 223 



Poa pratensis. As before 590 



The weight of nutritive matter, in which the produce of 



the Poa trivialis exceeds that of the Poa pratensis, is 202 



Besides this superiority of produce, the Anthoxanthum odoratum 

 and Poa trivialis have fibrous roots, which impoverish the soil in 

 a far less degree. The Poa pratensis cannot therefore justify its 

 claim to a place in the composition of the best natural pastures, 

 and on this account should be carefully avoided, as an unprofit- 

 able plant for that purpose. It flowers in the beginning of June, 



