NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



3G9 



or two, and then suffered to grow up. The growth 

 was white oak, red oak, yellow oak, chestnut and 

 maple. Seven years since, that same rye Held was 

 cut over, and there was not a single acre of it out 

 produced thirty cords to the acre ! And this in 

 twenty-seven years ! 



HAY— ITS COMPOSITION. 



"Hay," remarks a late author, "is composed of 

 four distinct parts, each of which has a very differ- 

 ent nutritive value. It is of consequence, then, that 

 in a specimen taken for the determination of the 

 azote it contains, each of these parts should be 

 properly represented. I distinguish in hay — 



1. The woody stems. 



2. The slender straws or stems, to which the 

 leaves are attached. 



3. The leaves, flowers and seeds. 



A small portion of hay is taken, and carefully 

 sorted, and the parts are weighed separately. In 

 a specimen of strong meadow hay, made in 1841, 

 I found : — 



LBS. DRACHMS. 



Woody stems 2.404 Taken for analysis 680 



Straws of very slender 



Btems 8.493 Taken for analysis 239 



Flowers, leaves and a 



few seeds 1.764 Taken for analysis 497 



Mixture analyzed 1416 



ANALYSIS. 



Azote, per cent 1.19 



Contract hay Tor Parisian Cavalry, 1840 1.21 



Hay from Alsace of 1635 1 04 



Do. do. 1837 115 



Mean of four samples, in the state in which it was 



consumed 1.15." 



The above analysis was conducted by the che- 

 mist Boussixgault, and not only shows that hay 

 differs considerably in the best qualities of the ar- 

 ticle, but that there is also a difference in the nu- 

 tritive qualities of the several members of the grass 

 plant. 



TUSSAC GRASS. 



This grass derives its name from the peculiar 

 habits of growth which characterize it, the radicals 

 and smaller roots becoming inosculated, or closely 

 matted, and forming with the pedicles, or root 

 stalks, a large tuft, denominated "^wssac." These 

 masses, formed by the columnar portions of the 

 plant, are generally, in fact, always isolated as to 

 position, and sufficiently separated to admit of a 

 person's passing between them ; often forming 

 walks, arbors and arcades of surprising beauty, 

 and furnishing grateful shelter to numberless birds, 

 and not unfrequently to man. Bougainville asserts 

 that he frequently obtained shelter in this manner 

 while wandering in the "tussac lands" — the in- 

 clined stems furnishing a roof, and the dry leaves 

 supplying a comfortable bed. These remarks, 

 however, apply to the tussac grass only in its most 

 perfect and luxuriant state. In this country, al- 

 though very vigorous and productive, it rarely at- 

 tains a height of more than a few feet. It was sup- 

 posed by the earlier botanists to be a fescue, and 



' we see it referred to in some old works under the 

 name of Fcstuca flabcllata, and Fesluca ccespitosa. 

 It is now, however, regarded as belonging properly 

 to the genus Dac/ylis, and we find it alluded to by 

 Foster under the appellation of Dactylis crrspilosa. 

 It has a generic relationship to the Dactylis glo- 

 mcrala — "Cock's foot," or "Orchard grass." It 

 is a perennial product, and has been found to be 

 extremely well adapted to orchards and other shady 

 localities, where the ordinary grasses rarely suc- 

 ceed. The following botanical description may be 

 of interest to some of our readers : — 



"Spikelet composed of three or four florets, of a 

 pale, yellow green color. The calycine glumes are 

 lanceolate, acuminate, longer than the spike of 

 flowers, slightly kuled, shortly ciliated on the 

 back, three and a half inches long, the margins a 

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

 nous and transparent, the superior one a little 

 longer than the other, three-nerved, the nerves 

 ciliated. The lower glume or palea of the corolla, 

 concave, compressed, and sharply kuled ; bluntly 

 trifed at the apex, five-nerved. Stamens three. 

 Anthers pale yellow. Ovary nearly ovate and 

 glabrous. Fruit elongate-ovate, or almost cylind- 

 rical, slightly trigonous, of a pale yellow color and 

 smooth." 



Several experiments have been made with this 

 grass, in this country, and generally with good 

 success. It yields a vast amount of fodder, as it 

 will bear being cut two or three times — some say 

 five or six during the season. The leaves and even 

 the stalks contain much saccharine matter, which 

 renders it very grateful to stock of every kind. 

 Mr. Hooker, in remarking upon the qualities of this 

 grass, says : — 



"The Falkland Inlands 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 ani- 

 mal in these regions, not only devours the tussac 

 grass with avidity, but fattens on it in a short 

 time. This predilection is shown for it not only in 

 a green state, but when dried, insomuch that cows 

 and horses often eat the thatch from the roofs of 

 the houses when it so happens that it is composed, 

 as it often is, of tussac grass." 



For soiling, many of the cattle-feeders of Great 

 Britain consider it superior to all other grasses, 

 and its cultivation has consequently, in that coun- 

 try, extended with great rapidity, and with eminent 

 benefit to its agriculture. From its peculiar habits 

 and structure it is well adapted to light lands — 

 such as sandy plains where there is a deficiency of 

 humus, and where mostother grasses, not even ex- 

 cepting the indigenous varieties, refuse to grow. 



Report of the Worcester County Society on 

 Feeding Farm Stock.— The attention of the read 

 er is again called to the valuable report from the 

 Worcester Society in relation to feeding farm 

 stock. It is the best report of that character 

 that has ever been published in the State. 



