THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



11 



In June they lay the border off in rows twelve or 

 fifteen inches apart. The seconci year it attains 

 perfection, and presents a mass of stalks and 

 leaves of an extraordinary abundance, and often 

 more than lour feet in height. It is principally 

 used as green iood lor cattle and horses. The 

 name, Guinea grass, has been improperly applied 

 to some other plants, particularly to Panicuni vir- 

 gatum and the Panicum coloratum. 



Paturin, Poa des Pres, Poa pratensis, Spear 

 grass. Among the paturins there are many 

 plants interesting in difierent respects, but espe- 

 cially on account of the fine quality of the forage 

 which they afford. The variety known as the 

 Paturin des pres is perhaps the most difficult to 

 appreciaie. iPew grasses are so common, or pre- 

 sent themselves under so many different aspects. 

 You will see it dwarfish and arid on the sides of 

 roads and ditches, and large and succulent on 

 moist meadows, but always very precocious, and 

 very much inclined to spread. These two pecu- 

 liarities render it ofien more obnoxious than useful 

 in mixtures formed by accident, and should pre- 

 vent is being employed in the formation of mea- 

 dows vviihout circumspeciion ; although its hay 

 has the reputation of being very excellent. It 

 will be best, perhaps, to sow it alone, or to asso- 

 ciate it only with the fox-tail, (^Alopecurus pra- 

 tensis,} and the common paturin, in moist lands, 

 which, although rather la^er, yet require to be cut , 

 about the same time ; and on dry soils with the 

 Dactylis glomerata and the ^vsna elatior, and a 

 little of the Anthoxanthum odoratum, and some ol 

 the leguminous grasses, taking care in the last 

 case to mow it at an early season. When sown 

 alone, from thirty-five to forty pounds of seed per 

 hectare are requisite. 



Le Paturin commun, Poa trivialis, Pasture 

 grass, is as common'as the preceding, and grows 

 like it on lands of very difTefent nature, it abounds 

 on lands that are dry, and in artificial meadows, 

 and yet humidity is so favorable to it, that it is ol- 

 ten found in situations so moist that they are al- 

 most aquatic. I prefer it to the Poa de pres. It 

 is necessary to mow it early, because it will wither 

 very quickly after the flowering is over. About 

 thirty pounds of seed per hectare are sown. 



Paturin comprime, Poa compressa, Blue grass, 

 1 should not mention, but some good works have 

 lately adopted an old error of opinion about it, in 

 supposing it to be the bird grass, which is extolled 

 as forage, but about which it is almost impossible 

 to get any correct information. I have made many 

 attempts to obtain this bird grass, and to learn 

 precisely what it is, and the result has been to sa- 

 tisfy me that, if a plant ever was cultivated in Vir- 

 ginia under that name, that plant was not the 

 Paturin comprime, which is a small grass that 

 grows about walls, and in very dry places, the 

 sparse leaves and stalks of which do not at all 

 comport with the abundance and permanence of 

 the verdure which is attributed to the bird grass. 

 From the imperfect description that I have 

 received of this greiss I conclude that it is an 

 jfgrostis, and the similarity of name induces me 

 to believe that it is the same with the herds- grass, 

 which also is an American plant. 



Palurin des bois, Poa memoralis seu angusti- 

 folia. In the experiments that I have made for 

 several years with many different kinds of grass, 

 ihe Poa des bois has ahvaye shown with advan- 



tage. It is rather the earliest of grasses (at least 

 of those which are cultivated) to develope ita 

 leaves in the spring. Annually in March, it pre- 

 sents a mass of new and vigorous verdure, whilst 

 the sap of the most of the other species of grass 

 has not commenced to rise. Although the leavea 

 are short, yet they are so numerous anff^o nutri- 

 tious that they afford a very good mowing, even 

 on sandy and indifferent soils. The hay which it 

 gives, in respect to its fineness, its soilness, and 

 its verdure, excels that which is obtained from al- 

 most all of the other varieties of grass. The Pa- 

 turin des bois is in other respects homely, durable, 

 and not hard to suit with a proper soil, provided 

 it is dry and sound, for I have never found it in 

 low and humid meadows. A remarkable pecu- 

 liarity which this grass possesses is that it grows 

 voluntarily in the woods, and will maintain itself 

 very well in the shade of the undergrowth. It 

 grows also with much vigor on open lands, and 

 even on walls, where it is often found, which 

 proves it to be of uncommon strength of constitu- 

 tion. Notwithstanding these good quafities, the 

 Paturin des bois has one most serious defect, that 

 of not covering the ground well ; its shoots, al- 

 though numerous, grow always perpendicularly, 

 and do not spread over the ground as those of 

 many other grasses, but particularly the ray grass. 

 Despite this objection, I regard it as one of the 

 best of our indigenous grasses, either for early 

 pasturage, or for sowing in meadows which it ia 

 intended shall be composed ol the best and most 

 superior plants. I have also found it very well 

 adapted to afford verdure in the thickly shaded 

 portions of pleasure grounds, where it will thrive 

 lor many years, whilst the ray grass and other 

 turf grasses will quickly perish. Some forty pounds 

 of seed per hectare are requisite. 



Phalaris roseau, Phalaris arundinacea. Al- 

 though this plant bears the appearance of a reed, 

 it is very different in its qualities. Its leaves, cut 

 when- young, are tender, well stored with nutri- 

 ment, and fi^irnish excellent food for cattle. The 

 Phalaris grows originally only on aquatic or very 

 huftiid soils, but the following example will show 

 that it will succeed in soils of a totally different 

 nature. Mons. Jacquement Bonnefond of Anno- 

 nay, a most worthy and intelligent farmer, haa 

 described to me a plantation of the Phalaris, 

 which he has made with complete success on a 

 very dry and gravelly hill-side, where verdure 

 was never before seen. He obtained in this situ- 

 ation with this plant, not only vegetation, but two 

 or three srnall mowings of hay, which the cowa 

 ate most heartily. This experiment was made 

 with the variety called the petit roseau panache, 

 which is cultivated in some gardens as an orna- 

 mental plant. It has been repealed with the or- 

 dinary variety with success, by Mons. Descolom- 

 bier of Moulins, whose farming is ever open to 

 useful experiments. 1, also, have some of the 

 Phalaris, which is pretty well taken in very poor 

 chalk land, where it resisted the drought of 1832. 

 The discovery of Mons. Jacquement might bring 

 about interesting results in larming. 



Vulpinde pres, Alopecnrus pratensis. Foxtail. 

 Almost all observers in France, in England, and 

 in Germany, who have studied meadow grasses, 

 agree in regarding the Vulpin as one of the most 

 precious of all, on accorrt of its precocity, and the 

 abundance of its forage. In the crops that I have 



