It seems to be the almost unanimona opinion 

 of those who have examined this plant in its na- 

 tive localities, that it would succeed in certain 

 situations in our o-svn countrj". A writer in the 

 " Guernsey Star " newspaper, who appears fa- 

 miliar with the subject, expresses his hope tliat 

 the " splendid tussac grass will 3-et make the 

 fortune of Orkney and the owners of Irish peat- 

 bogs." The Governor of the Falkland Islands, 

 Lieutenant R. C. Moody, is of opinion that " the 

 wild West Coast of Ireland would exactly suit 

 tliis grass." Mr. Lyall, of the discovery ship 

 " Terror," — than whom no one has more zeal- 

 ously investigated the botany of these regions— 

 in a communication to the writer of this notice, 

 says : " 1 should think that sheltered spots, near 

 the beach, on some of the smaller of our West- 

 em islands, are the situations in which the tus- 

 sac grass is most likely to succeed." Sir W. J. 

 Hooker says : •■ The nature of the soil and cli- 

 mate producing this grass gives every reason to 

 believe that the shores of a vast extent of Eng- 

 land, Scotland and Ireland would suit it equally 

 well ; more especially the Western coasts of 

 the two latter countries." 



In tliese circumstances, public curiosity could 

 scarcely fail to be excited, and some degree of 

 interest to be attached to the attempts made to 

 introduce the grass into Britain. No living 

 plants ever reached this country. Dr. Hooker 

 did, indeed, dispatch .some young plants in cases, 

 but they perished during the voyage. The 

 seeds have been found to germinate freely in 

 the Governor's garden in the Falkland I.slands, 

 and it was thought there was every probability 

 that they would likewise do so when transport- 

 ed to this country. The first attempt to rear the 

 plant from seed in Britain was made by Sir ^V. 

 J. Hooker, in Kew Gardens, but he entirely 

 failed. Last Winter, a package of seed, care- 

 fully collected and preserved by himself, was 

 presouted to the writer of this notice by Mr. 

 Lyall, of the " Terror." It was duly sown last 

 April in a garden in the village of Denholm, 

 Ro.xburghshire, and carefullj- attended to ; but 

 although the seeds seemed liealthy, and in good 

 condition, not one germinated. Seeds collected 

 at the same time, and by the same individual, 

 were sown in Kew Gardens, but the result was 

 the same. The Higlilaud and Agricultural So- 

 ciety of Scotland latel}- purchased two lbs. of 

 seed, which had been sent to the Colonial Of- 

 fice. It has been intru.sted to the care of Mr. 

 Lawson, the society's seedsman, and, if it fail to 

 grow, it will be from no want of attention or 

 skillful treatment. It was lately stated in the 

 newspapers that Dr. Murray, of Hull, had suc- 

 ceeded in raising .several plants from seed given 

 to him by Sir W. J. Hooker, and his success 

 ^vas ascribed to his having steeped the seed in 

 some chemical solution previous to sowing it. 



It is not ea.sy to see any reason why the Tus- 

 sac Grass sliould not succeed, at least to a cer- 

 tain extent, in this country. The climate, soil, 

 and most other conditions, are not so different 

 from those it meets with in its native regions as 

 to be likely to fonn insuperable obstacles. It 

 should be remembered, also, that the grasses in 

 general have a veiy wide geographical range ; 

 some of them, in fact, such as the Poa annua, 

 perhaps approach nearer to true cosmopolites 

 than any other distinctly flowering plants. The 

 high utility of this tribe of plants in affording 

 food to animals, might lead us beforehand to 

 imasrine that they would be widely distributed, 

 readily propagated, and possess tlie power of 

 '(97) 4 



accommodating themselves with facihty to a 

 change of circumstances. This we accordingly 

 find to be the ca.se in a singular degree, and it 

 aflbrds a fair presumption of success in any at- 

 tempt to bring a grass from one country for the 

 purpose of being cultivated in another. In the 

 present instance, one of the circuni-stances which 

 indicates most strikingly that the influences un- 

 der which the Tussac flourishes in a Southern 

 latitude are not remarkably difl'erent from those 

 to which it would be subjected in a Northern 

 one, is the fact that, on the verj^ same grounds 

 where it prospers is to be found a variety of 

 plants ^^•hich also grow naturally in Britain. — 

 Among the.se are the common grasses, Lolium 

 percnnc, Aira Jlexuona, and a species of 

 Triticum, probably T. jmicenm. If these 

 grasses thrive in the Falkland Islands under the 

 same conditions as the Tussac, it may be fairly 

 inferred that the latter would not refuse to grow 

 in Britain, where they find all that is necessary 

 for their prosperity. Among the other British 

 plants growing in tlie Falkland Islands may be 

 mentioned Apium grai'eolens, Cerastium vul- 

 ^atum, Ahinc media, Senecio vulgaris, Veron- 

 ica serpi/Uifolia, and Ruviex acetosella. In 

 fact, the general aspect of the vegetation is es- 

 sentially European, and in not a few respects 

 resembles that of Great Britain. We shall 

 probably, however, be disappointed if ■we ex- 

 pect the Tussac to reach its utmost state of lux- 

 uriance in this couutn,-, and to tbrm those huge 

 and almost arborescent masses of herbage, an 

 assemblage of which resembles a thickset 

 copsev^ood, or a miniature forest ; but even in a 

 dwarfed and impertect condition, it could not 

 fail to be an important addition to our native 

 grasses, and ^vould still greatly exceed the 

 dimensions even of the most stately of them. 



"When cultivated in the Falkland Islands, it 

 is recommended either .that the seed should be 

 sown in patches, just below the surface 

 of the earth, and at distances of about two feet 

 apart, or that it should be di'illed in rows, like 

 tuniip.s. Treated in the latter way, it was found 

 to spring up strongly from the seed. It must, 

 however, be taken into consideration, as re- 

 marked Ijy Sir W. J. Hooker, that, in order that 

 it may thrive in this countrj-, the plant must so 

 far change its habits of the Southern hemisphere 

 as to forget that our Winter is its Summer, and 

 vice versa. 



The merits of the above grass have probably 

 been the cause of another similar production of 

 the Falkland Islands having been in a great 

 measure overlooked, although its qualities seem 

 to be such as to entitle it to attention. This is 

 a kind of fescue grass, the Festuca alopecurtis 

 of D'Urville, and the Aritndo alopccurmt of 

 Gaudichaud. In a report transmitted to Lord 

 Stanley, it is spoken of in the following terms: 



" Another, grass, however, and of more ex- 

 tensive distribution than the Tussac, scarcely 

 yields to it in nutritious qualities. It covers 

 every peat-hog with a dense and rich clothing 

 of preen in Summer, and a pale-yello\v good hay 

 during the \Vinter season. This, hay, though 

 formed by nature without the operation of mow- 

 ing and drj-ing, keeps tliose cattle which Iiave 

 not access to the Tussac in excellent condition, 

 as was proved by the beef with which our 

 hunting parties supplied, for four months, the 

 discovery ships. No bog, however rank, seems 

 too bad for this plant to luxriate upon, and, as 

 was observed during a sui-veying excursion 

 which had been made to Port William, although 



