HORTUS GRAMINEUS WOBURNENSIS. 289 



Produce per Acre, 

 dr. qr. Ibs. 



Grass, 10 oz. The produce per acre 6806 4 



80 dr, of grass weigh, when dry 30 7 9559 5 8 



The produce of the space, ditto 60 5 



The weight lost by the produce of one acre in drying 4253 14 8 

 64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 207 

 The produce of the space, ditto 503 



At the time the seed is ripe, the produce is 

 Grass, 9 oz. The produce per acre 6125 10 



80 dr. of grass weigh, when dry 32 7 9450 4 



The produce of the space, ditto - 57 2f ) 

 64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 217 ^15 5 IQ 

 The produce of the space, ditto - 5 Oj > 



The weight lost by the produce of one acre in drying 3675 6 

 The latter-math produce of this grass is very small. It is com- 

 mon to heaths and by the margin of bogs, but is never found in 

 the bogs themselves, as it affects a dry soil. Its produce and nu- 

 tritive qualities, as shewn in the above details, rank it with the 

 most inferior grasses, especially as the foliage is extremely harsh 

 or wiry. I never could observe that any part of the plant was 

 eaten by cattle or hares, though this circumstance proves little or 

 nothing in general regarding the merits of a grass; nevertheless, in 

 such instances as the present, where there are few grasses besides 

 for animals to select, the rejection or neglect of a grass must pro- 

 ceed more from some radical defect in the plant for the purpose of 

 food than from caprice or satiety in the animal. The nutritive 

 matter offers no reason for this dislike manifested by animals for 

 the grass, as its composition is much the same as that of the Aira 

 Jlexuosa, which is eaten with relish by sheep ; the only difference is 

 in the proportion of sugar : the Aira Jlexuosa having more of this 

 constituent and less of mucilage than the Nardus stricta. But the 

 extreme hard and wiry nature of the foliage explains the cause. 

 That property is so strong in this grass that, in the ordinary way, 

 a scythe is passed amongst it without having the effect of dividing 

 a single leaf; and from this it may easily be conceived how ungrate- 

 ful it must prove to the mouths of cattle. Were it not for this 

 circumstance, and its continuing to send up flowering culms all the 

 summer, it would be the most ornamental grass for forming grass- 

 plats, as its colour is of the finest dark green, being superior in this 

 respect to all the perennial grasses. Linnaeus observes, that goats 



