FINGERS AND TOES. 



FIRES. 



It is an uninteresting native wild grass, toimd j 

 in sandy cultivated fields, in England, but not 

 common ; like all other plants it is variable in , 

 its places of growth. Leaves broad, pointed, : 

 striated, wavy at the edges, besprinkled, like ; 

 their long swelling sheaths, with little warts, 

 many of which bear bristly hairs. Flowers in 

 pairs, dark purplish, erect. 



FINGERS AND TOES. The common name 

 for a disease in turnips. See ANBUUT. 



FIORIN GRASS. A name under which a 

 variety of the longer leaved creeping bent 

 (dgrostis vulgaris, or stolonifera, var. latifolia') 

 was introduced about 27 years ago by Dr. 

 Richardson, of Clonfeale, in the county of Ty- 

 rone, Ireland. (PI. 5, .) That gentleman la- 

 boured with great zeal, by his writings and 

 practice on a large scale, to prove the superi- 

 ority of this grass over every other for meadow 

 purposes. One of his modes of propagating 

 florin was to plant the stoles of the grass, 

 which are as vivacious as those of couch grass, 

 on fallow ground, and thus create a meadow; 

 but his favourite and most expeditious system 

 was to encourage its spontaneous growth on 

 alluvial and Hat peaty ground. Unquestiona- 

 bly Dr. Richardson did exhibit extraordinary 

 crops of florin on the level surface of denuded 

 and cut-out bog land of little value, and for 

 several years mowed enormous crops. Fiorin, 

 being one of the indigenous grasses of Ireland, 

 especially on peaty soil, is seen abundantly on 

 the black shallow bogs which have been 

 drained in any degree, and particularly on the 

 margins of pools and ditches. Cows relish it 

 much if it be not soured by stagnant water, and 

 yield milk abundantly when fed upon it. 

 Howrver, though it has produced from six to 

 ten tons per acre when top dressed and pre- 

 served from the poaching of cattle, the attempt 

 to keep any land under the occupation of this 

 grass for meadows, to the exclusion of all 

 others, has been totally abandoned. Two great 

 objections to florin are, the difficulties of mow- 

 ing it, as it lies flat and entangled, and of 

 saving it at the very late season when it is ripe, 

 for the scythe. Some writers very erroneously 

 describe the Jlgrostis alba as florin ; and MM, 

 ; it sometimes passes under the name of black 

 couch grass." I am surprised that any person 

 of experience should mistake florin for black 

 couch grass (though the Woburn reports make 

 a similar remark), to which it scarcely bears j 

 any resemblance, and from which in some re- 

 spects it is essentially ditferent. Fiorin is a 

 soft silky-like grass, with a very narrow or 

 linear leaf, and, although rough on both sides, 

 yet not creeping, throwing out roots with its 

 joints under the surface: it is very easily 

 pulled out, and has not those knotted and viva- 

 cious roots which characterize black couch. 

 The varieties may sometimes be mistaken for 

 one another, but the different species have al- 

 ways some broad distinguishing marks of dif- 

 ference. As it is of great importance to the 

 farmer to be able to distinguish florin from the 

 other species of bent grass, which are unpro- 

 fitable and pernicious weeds, I will here point ' 

 out a few distinguishing characteristics. In 

 florin the body of the seed is covered with the 

 husks of the blossom, which do not open : it is 



cylindrical, but tapers to a point at each end. 

 The seed of the clayey couch grass (Jl. alba} 

 is very slender and smooth, one half the size 

 only of the florin, and more slender than the 

 Jl. mlgorit. The seed of the A. canina is fur- 

 nished with a jointed awn of a brown colour, 

 which readily distinguishes it from the other 

 species. There is an awnless variety of the 

 A. canina which is distinguished by being 

 shorter and more plump than the florin of the 

 clay couch bent. The seed of the Jl.fasindaris 

 is not one-third of the size of that of the florin, 

 more rounded at the bottom, and of a light 

 straw colour. The Jl. pulmlris has seed about 

 one-fifth shorter than that of the florin, of a 

 lighter brown colour, and more plump and 

 rounded. The variety of florin called arestata 

 has an awn which distinguishes it at once from 

 the seed of the more valuable variety. The 

 distinguishing characters of the different spe- 

 cies of agrostis are well set forth in the late 

 Mr. G. Sinclair's valuable work on grasses ; but 

 it would rather tend to perplex than inform 

 were I to attempt any further notice, which 

 must necessarily be a mere abridgment. See 

 Ac IMISTIS. (Hort. Gram. Wob.) 



FIRE-BLAST. A term of very doubtful 

 meaning, like the word blight, but generally 

 implying au accident to which hops are very 

 lialilc: it usually occurs in the month of July, 

 ami sometimes scorches up whole plantations 

 from cbe end of the ground to the other, when 

 a hot gleam of sunshine has come immediately 

 after a shower of rain ; while at others it only 

 affects them partially, or in a particular por- 

 tion of the plant. When the lower leaves 

 of hops are shrivelled up and unhealthy, they 

 are said to be fire-blasted. This is stated to 

 arise from the want of sufficient nourishment 

 in the root, the whole supply of the sap juice 

 being required to complete the growth of the 

 hops on the top of the pole, but little can re- 

 turn to the lower leaves : this is particularly 

 observable when the hops are ripening, on 

 those hills which have too long a pole put to 

 them. (Bri*. Husb. vol. ii. p. 354; The Hop 

 Fanner, p. 89.) 



In the United States, the term fire-blast is 

 generally used lo designate that destruction so 

 often witnessed in the branches of the apple, 

 and especially the pear tree. For the discovery 

 of the cause and remedy for this blast or 

 blight, agricultural and horticultural societies 

 have offered the highest premiums, which as 

 yet have never been awarded. 



FIRES. Sax. FXP. In England, the legisla- 

 ture has wisely afforded very considerable fa- 

 cilities to the insurance of farming stock. 

 "The Farmer's Insurance Institution" insures 

 it at Is. 9d. per cent., without the average clause; 

 thus easily repaired are the ravages of the in- 

 cendiary, of accidental fires, and lightning. 



Causes of Fire. Mr. J. Murray has recently 

 published a letter in a Liverpool paper on the 

 frequency, causes, and prevention of fire, which 

 contains many facts well worthy of attentive con- 

 sideration. Among other observations, he says : 



"There is far too little attention paid to the 

 locomotive engine on our railroads. The 

 ignited coals that fall below are often blown to 

 considerable distances, carried into the adjoin- 



475 



