48 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



grass, it ■was tliought to be a fescue, and -we ac- 

 cordingl}' have it referred to under the names of 

 F(Utiica JlalcUata and Festuca cccxpilosa. 

 Forster notices under the name of Dactylix 

 CiEspitosa, and tliat appellation is nov\' retained, 

 as a careful examination of its charncler leaves 

 no doubt that it belongs to the genus Dactyl/x. 

 It has thus a generic relationship to a well- 

 known grass in this country, the Dactylis glo- 

 merata, or cock's foot — [or orchard grass] — a 

 strong, coarse grass, insulated tufts of ■which may 

 be seen growing by the side of every hedgerow 

 and field. The tussac is perennial ; the root 

 consists of a dense mass of tortuous fibres. The 

 stems, which spring from the little hillock fomi- 

 ed by the roots, are numerous, erect, branched 

 or divided only at the base, from three to four 

 feet long, smooth, and compressed. The leaves 

 are numerous, the lovs'er ones very long, not 

 unfrequently from five to seven feet, about an 

 inch broad at the base, and gradually tapering 

 to a point ; from above the middle they are 

 curved do\\nvvards, or even pendent; the stem- 

 leaves become gi-adually shorter upwards, and 

 are of a pale glaucous or sea-green color ; the 

 other leaves are pale yellow. The panicle is a 

 span long or upwards, verj^ dense, forming a 

 somewhat interrupted spike, nearly \.\\o inches 

 broad, compressed and obtuse ; the branches 

 short and erect ; the rachis angled. " Spikelet 

 composed of three or four florets, of a pale 

 yello'v\' -green color. The calycine glumes are 

 lanceolate, acuminate, longer than the spike of 

 flowers, slightly keeled, shortly ciliated on the 

 back, three and a-half lines long, the margins a 

 little involute, and, as well as the apex, mem- 

 branous and transparent, the superior one a lit'le 

 longer than the other, three-nerved, the nerves 

 ciliated. The lower glnme or palea of the 

 corolla is ovate, concave, compressed, and 

 sharply keeled; bluntly trifid at the apex, five- 

 nen'ed. Stamens three. Anthers pale yellow. 

 Ovai-y neai'ly ovate and glabrous. Fniit elong- 

 ate-ovate, or almost cylindrical, slightly trigo- 

 nous, of a pale yello^v color, and smooth."* 



It will at once appear, from the length and 

 breadth of the leaves, the dimensions of the 

 culms, and the profusion in ■which both these 

 are produced, what an immense quantity of herb- 

 age this plant is calculated to afford. Both the 

 leaves and stems abound in saccharine matter, 

 and form a most nutritious food. The inner 

 portion of the stem, for a little %vay above the 

 root, is soft, crisp, ^vell-flavored. somewhat re- 

 sembling the kernel of a nut, and is often eaten 

 by the inhabitants of the Falkland islands. The 

 young shoots also are boiled and eaten like a.s- 

 paragus. This tends to show the wholesome 

 nature of the ■whole plant as an esculent ; but 

 it is as affording pasturage for cattle that the 

 tussac is to be chiefly valued. The Falkland 

 islands have long been known to be inhabited 

 by many ■wild cattle and troops of horses, and 

 these are principally supported by this grass, 

 ■which they prefer to every other kind of food. 

 Not only these, but every herbivorous animal 

 in these regions not only devours the tussac 

 with avidity, but is affinued to fatten on it in a 

 short time. This predilection is shown for it 

 both in a green .state and when dried, insomuch 

 that co'ws and horses often eat the thatch from 

 the roofs of the hou.';es ^vllen it happens, as it 

 often does, to be composed of tussac grass. 



* Ilooker. " Notes on the Botany of the Antarctic 

 Voy.ige," p. .50. 



(9fi) 



" During several long ride.s," says Lieut. E. C. 

 Moody, " nito the country, I have always found 

 the tussac flourishing most vigorously in B]X)ts 

 exposed to the sea, and on .soil unfit for any 

 other plant, viz. the rankes'l peat-bog. black or 

 red. It is singular to observe the beaten foot- 

 paths of the wild cattle and horses, marked like 

 a foot-track acro.ss fields in England ; extending 

 for miles over ban'en moor-land, and alwajs 

 terminating in some point or peninsula covered 

 with this favorite fodder; amid which one is 

 almost certain to moet\vith solitary old bulls, or, 

 perhaps, a herd of cattle — verj- likely a tixjop 

 of wild horses, just trotting ofl' as they scent the 

 coming stranger from afar. I have not tried 

 how it would be relished if made into hay, but 

 cattle will eat the dry thatch oft' tlie roof of a 

 house in Winter; their preference to tussac 

 gi'ass being so gi-eat that they scent it a consid- 

 erable distance, and use every eftbrt to get at 

 it. Some bundles, which had been .stacked in 

 the yard at the back of Government House, 

 ■were quickly detected, and the cattle from the 

 village made, every night, repeated attempts to 

 reach them, which occasioned great trouble to 

 the sentry upon duly." It is the opinion of those 

 who have visited the Falkland islands, that, if 

 proper attention were paid to the jj'ropagation 

 of the tussac grass, and if it were prevented 

 from being entirely eaten do\vn in those places 

 where it now abounds, it would, of itself, with- 

 out aid from the other indigenous vegetation, 

 not only yield abundant pasttirage to all tlie 

 cattle no^v existing there, but would support as 

 many as there is ever likely to be a demand for 

 in that quarter of the globe. 



The islands just mentioned may be said to 

 form the metropolis of this interestmg plant, 

 and, as far as yet known, its geographical range 

 is comprehended within the 50^ and 60° S. lati- 

 tude. Forster found it in New- Year's Island, 

 Statcn Land. Commcrson cites the Straits of 

 Magelhaens as one of its localities ; and Dr. 

 Hooker sa^w it on HeiTuite Lsland, Cape Horn. 

 It has also been noticed in considerable quan- 

 tity in some of tlie smaller of the Aukland group 

 of islands. 



It is generally found growing near the shore, 

 and flourishes best where tlie saHne spr^y dash- 

 es over it. Indeed, exposure to the sea-breeze, 

 and the peculiar influences which emanate from 

 the ocean, are conditions which seem essential 

 to its pro.sperity. It is then only tliat it reaches 

 its most stately proportions, and assumes that 

 exuberant and im|)osing form, which have led 

 one author to speak of it as the " splendid tussac 

 grass, the gold and gloty of the Falklands." — 

 As it recedes from the ocean, it becomes 

 dwarfed and sickly, as if out of its kindred and 

 appropriate element, in this respect resembling 

 our own native Arundn arcnnria, Trtticvm 

 jnnreiim, ami certain other gramineous plants. 

 As with these akso, and a considerable number 

 of other species, the glaucous color of the tussac 

 grass may I'.e regarded as indicating it to be a 

 littoral plant; for it would seem as if many of 

 the plants growing near the soa caught their 

 hues, as they are known to actiuire certain other 

 of their properties, from the element in their vi- 

 cinity. It is probable that the saline matter the 

 plant derives from the spray and sea-breezes, 

 C'ontributes not a little to render it so palatable 

 to cattle. The ground on which the tu.^sac grass 

 flourishes best is a wet peaty soil, often vei-y 

 bleak and poor, and scarcely capable of sustain- 

 ing any other kind of herbage. 



