A NEW VEGETABLE AND NEW GRASSES. 



47 



A NEW VEGETABLE AND NEW GRASSES 



RECOMMENDED TO BE IMPORTED. 



It is the crowning glory of Commerce that 

 her ofllco is to niaiutaiii throughout the world an 

 equilibrium of kr.pwledge, to transfer whatever 

 is peculiar and valuable in one climate or coun- 

 ti-y, to be cultivated and enjoyed in every other, 

 where Nature can he persuaded by Art to en- 

 tertain and support it ; or where this may not 

 be done ijrofitably, then it is her province to in- 

 terchange whatever might bear transportation, 

 hut refuses to be acclimated. Thus has Com- 

 merce been justly denominated the handmaid 

 of civilization — and who so barbarous as not to 

 do her homage in that beautiful character ? 



Viewed in this light, it is easy to see how the 

 Merchant may become the benefactor of the 

 Farmer when appealed to in his behalf, to intro- 

 duce from abroad new vegetables, plants, ani- 

 mals, machines and materials for the jiromotion 

 of American Husbandry. No^v, for example, 

 if our brief residence did not forbid it, we would 

 call upon some generous New- York Merchant- 

 Fanner or friend of Fanners, of whom doubtless 

 there are many, to import a ne'w Grass, much 

 spoken of in late English papers, that no tune 

 might be lost in securing the benefit of it, if 

 adapted to our climate. And here it is \vorthy 

 of remark, that \vhile in manufacturing and 

 other arts the delay of a few^ weeks in the im- 

 portation of any new contrivance or discovery- 

 involves the lo.'ss of only that much time, it is far 

 different with Agriculture and Horticulture. 

 The delay of a week or two may involve the 

 loss of a season, and with it the entire year. 

 We have ourselves had occasion to feel the 

 force of this, in the commencing niimbcr of the 

 Farmers' Library; for while we have on hand 

 a mass of matter which seems calculated to 

 throw much light on the preparation of the land 

 and other points connected with the culture of 

 Tin'uijjs and Potatoes, two most important pro- 

 ducts of Agriculture, we have entered upon 

 our duties just a few ^veeks too late to present 

 any thing now available on <7iese subjects. Wo 

 must therefore reserve for a more appropriate 

 opportunity much of what wc hope may prove 

 useful if not new on these points But as to the 

 Grass that has lately been mentioned with 

 strong commendation and interest, in the Eng- 

 lish journals, and which wc hope to see im- 

 ported by some gentlemen having facilities to 

 do it. 



We find the follov.-ing notice in the January 



number of ''The Journal of Agriculture and 

 Transactions of the Highland Agricultural So- 

 cietj' of Scotland." Who knows but tliat before 

 many years ^^■e may see all the marshes along 

 the sea-beach, from Marshfield to the sea-shores 

 of North Carolina, green with luxuriant crops of 

 the Tussac and Teteue Grasses ? 

 TUSSAC GRASS OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. 



BY KEV. JAMES DUNCA.V^ M. W S. 



So much has of late been said respecting this 

 grass, and such high expectations haxe been 

 formed of it proving a valualile acquisition if 

 introducc;d and propagated hi this counti-y, that 

 a brief description of its appearance and pro- 

 perties can .scarcely fail, we think, to be accept- 

 able to the readers of this journal. Although 

 not brought prominently into notice till the 

 recent voyage of discovery in the antarctic 

 regions, under the superintendence of Captain 

 Ross, it has been long known to botanisis, and 

 is alludefe to by most of the navigators who 

 have touched at the islands which form its prin- 

 cipal locality since tlie days of Cook. Its 

 botanical characters, however, do not seem to 

 have been closely examined, nor rightly under- 

 stood, until investigated by Sir W. J. Hooker, 

 who has given an account of it, accompanied 

 with a colored representation, in a pamphlet 

 entitled "Notes on the Botanj' of the Antarctic 

 Voyage." Neither docs it seem to have occur- 

 red to those who first noticed this grass that it 

 was calculated to flourish on the shores of 

 northern Europe, the circumstance which now 

 claims for it such a degree of attention. 



It is called the Tussac grass from its habit of 

 growth, the roots becoming densely matted to- 

 gether, tmd the lower parts of the stalks fonning 

 a large tuft or tussac. These basal or colum- 

 nar portions, formed by the close approximation 

 of the stems or cuhns, often rise to. a consider- 

 able height — from four to six feet ; the long 

 tapering leaves then diverge from them, and 

 hang down all aroand, often in a very graceful 

 curve, like the falling ■waters of a jet d'can. 

 These masses are insulated, generally a few feet 

 apart, and the leaves, meeting above, foi'm a 

 kind of arched roof, beneath which the ground 

 is generally quite bare of vegetation. A tussac 

 ground thus forms a ct.nipletc labyrinth, and a 

 man may walk among its green arcades com- 

 pletely concealed from view. Naj-, a house 

 may be foniied of it in a very short time : the 

 inclined stems, when fastened together, may be 

 made to serve as a roof, while the dry leaves 

 about the root make a tolerably good bed. Bou- 

 gainville states that he often in this way obtained 

 shelter for him.'-clf during his wanderings. This, 

 however, refers to the plant in its most luxuriant 

 state of growth : it is often so low as .scarcely to 

 afford adequate shelter to the flocks of penguins 

 vi'hich resort to it for the puiijose of building 

 their nests and rearing their young. 



By the earlier naturalists who examined this 



