THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



125 



or three Jayp. Let it be remembered, that the 

 frames viust be placed on the ground. A sciiU'olJ 

 flevatcil nvo or three leet from ihc ground will 

 not do. The Iranie is made of routrh laths, three 

 leet lotig Htul two wide, and a sheet of sironj^ 

 brown pnper in; pasted on i'. A pi'ce ol' lath is 

 nailed aeross lite middle of the frame lo Ueep the 

 paper fioin siniiin::. These frames will he lound 

 eonvonieiii for exposinjjf the cocoons to the rays ol 

 the sun and also lor pj>reading them for three suc- 

 cessive wecl<>'. The cocoons must not be thrown 

 into bulk earlier than three weeks after the chrysa- 

 lides have been killed. 



2. Mice. — Alier the cocoons have been cured, 

 (by which I mean killing the chrysalides, and 

 airing lor three weeks,) they may be placed in bags 

 made of cotton cloih, lo coniain about two busliels 

 each, and suspended by a strong twine to nails 

 fastened in the joists. JMice will rarely if ever 

 touch lliem in this situation. Some persons, as 

 soon as the chrysalides are killed, pack their co- 

 coons in boxes and barrelrf, and put them ni the 

 garret ; and when tliey are subsequently examin- 

 ed, it is Ibund that mice have taken up their abode 

 among thern, and destroyed all that had not been 

 previously spoiled by lermenlaiion. 



Layton Y. Atkins. 



Stafford County, Fa., Feb., 1841. 



From ihe Mass. Agiicultural Journal of 1824. 

 GRASSES. 



Jiy Hon. John TVelles. 



In the Agricultural Journal of January last, I 

 ofl'ered some observations on grasses, and gave 

 the result of an experiment showing their loss by 

 exsiccation or the process of drying, in the sum- 

 mer of 1822. This subject has been pursued 

 during the past season, and still farther extended. 

 The variation, in the comparison of the two years 

 IS not, it is apprehended, greater, (exce|it in one 

 or two instances which will be explained) than 

 will often occur li-om the nature of the soil, diH'er- 

 ence of season, closeness ol" vegetation, exposure 

 to the sun, &c. &c. As lar as a general principle 

 may be established by experiment, it will, in some 

 degree, go to fix the relative value of our natural 

 grasses, as they prevail in our pastures, or of 

 those artificial grasses which should be selected 

 as fit objects ol' cultivation. In collecting these 

 several s[)ecies, I have found the natural gra.?ses 

 which generally prevail in this neighborhood, so 

 few in number, that a sh>ort and yet sufficient de- 

 scription of them could be most properly first 

 given with advantage. 



The earliest grass we have is the Avena spicala 

 (Linn.) or spiked oat crass. It is peculiarly indi- 

 genous to the United States, and grows, it is said, 

 as far south as Georgia. This grass ripens so 

 early that it mostly sheds its seed and thus repro- 

 duces itselfj and is widely progagaled. For th's 

 reason, as well as from its short growth, it is unde- 

 serving of culture, yielding little to the scythe. 

 But it is of great value lor early feed in our naiu- 

 ral pastures, in which it abounds. One hundred 

 pounds cut on the 15lh July last, gave lllty pounds 

 of hay. 



The next grass which we fhall mention is the 



Poa pratensis, (Linn.) with us falsely called red 

 lop, a color it never has. Tiiis, both in Europe 

 ;uid America, is the common and prevailing ijrasa 

 of the pastures. It grows in almost every soil 

 and situation, and is one of those materials 

 which, as that excellent botanist, Mr. Nutiall, of 

 Cambridge, informs me, i.'^ used in Europe (or ihe 

 manulaclure of bonnets. The color of its top, or 

 lianiele, is ol' a yellowish brown. The number of 

 fioreis in tlie spike varies from three to five. Tlie 

 seed is sometimes saved and sown ; but these fine 

 spired grasses have so minute a seed, that, eiiher 

 from exposure to dampness and fermentation, or 

 sooie other causes, which it is difficult lo prevent 

 or discover, they too often fail of vegetating, by 

 which great injury and disappointment occurs in 

 the wished lor crop. Though this grass is 

 amongst those which lose the least in drying, yet, 

 as it piesents liiile to the scythe, it cannot be 

 recommended lor culture. It is excellent in our 

 pastures, and comes in nalurally as the artifii-ial 

 grasses go out of our mowing lots. Indeed it 

 has a preference with our litrmcrs generally, lor 

 horned caille, over every oilier grass. One hiui- 

 dred pounds cut July 17, gave Ibriy-six pounds. 

 It was p.isi flowering. 



The notice of our prevailing natural grasses 

 might here be closed, but as the grasses which we 

 shall next describe appear in our pastures, as well 

 as cur culiivated grassland, and are men'ioneJ 

 by several writers in answer to the question pro- 

 [)osed by the society, as to " what natural grasses 

 prevail in ihis part uf the country," we shall give 

 their description here. 



The grass here cidied Rhode Island, is Ihe 

 aijroslis alba, (Linnajus) the marsh bent grass of 

 England, or the agrostis stolonilt;ra, Schrader, 

 German. Mr. Nuliall, to whom I exhibited a 

 sample, pronounces it the famous fiorin grass of 

 Dr. Richardson and the Irish agiiciiitiirisis, on 

 the authority of Hooker, who describes '• the 

 panicle thereof as purple, and the branchlets 

 |)afent." The color, at firsi, of the branclilets is 

 of a deep red, and they adhere closely lo the 

 spike, but as they flower they become patent and 

 change to a lighter purple. This grass has six to 

 eight branchlets, and flowers more fully than the 

 Poa pratensis though often conlbunded therewith. 

 It is amongst those which lose least by evapora- 

 tion, and would be a more favorable object of 

 cultivation, were it not liable toilie same uncer- 

 tainty as lo its vegetating and producing a crop 

 as the preceding grass, and frotp probably a like 

 cause. In Ireland it is said lo suit a wet soil, and 

 lo produce over six tons to the acre. In thia 

 country it does not flo'irish in such soil, nor does 

 it give a great crop, especially compared wiih the 

 herds grass. Siill the hay is very excellent, and 

 perhaps not exceeded by any other for its intrinsic 

 value in nutriment. One hundred pounds in early 

 (lower, cut July 17lh, gave Ibrly pounds. 



The grass, in Ihc answer given to the society 

 called Cambridge, dog and garden grass, is the 

 iriiicum repene. Dr. Elliot calls it the "hurtful 

 blue or Dutch grass." In England it is called 

 couch, knot, or dog grass. Every joint of its root 

 produces a new plant, and it is said to be there, as 

 it is found here, one of the worst weeds and most 

 difficult lo extirpate. It resembles wheat, of 

 which it ia a species. The best mode to destroy 

 it ia lo keep the lands longer under the plough, 



