GRASS. 



GRASS. 



then, is a satisfactory proof of the superior va- 

 lue of the crop at the time the seed is ripe, and 

 of the consequent loss sustained by taking it 

 when in flower ; the produce of each crop be- 

 ing nearly equal. The deficiency of hay in the 

 flowering crop in proportion to that of the seed 

 crop is very striking. Its superior produce, the 

 highly nutritive powers which the grass seems 

 to possess, and the season in which it arrives 

 at perfection, are merits which distinguish it 

 as one of the most valuable of those grasses 

 which affect moist, rich soils, and sheltered 

 situations. But on dry, exposed situations, it 

 is altogether inconsiderable ; it yearly dimi- 

 nishes, and ultimately dies off, not unfrequently 

 in the space of four or five years. (London's En- 

 cyclop, of Agriculture.') 



The above constitute six of the best British 

 grasses for either dry or watered meadows. 

 The seeds of the two sorts of meadow-grass 

 are apt to stick together, and when sown with 

 clover and other kinds of seeds, require to be 

 carefully mixed before sowing. The tall and 

 spiked fescue grasses, having a number of 

 barren flowers, are not prolific in seeds, and 

 are therefore seldom to be got at the seed- 

 stores, though they may occasionally be had 

 there gathered from plants in a wild state. 



As hay grasses, adapted for particular soils and 

 situations, the cat's-tail or timothy, floating fes- 

 cue, and florin grass have been recommended 

 by British agriculturists, though not with per- 

 fect unanimity. 



The Cat's-tail or Timothy grass (Phleum pra- 

 tense, PI. 5, &), is said to be a native of Eng- 

 land, although, from its still partial use there, 

 and its universal culture in all the grazing dis- 

 tricts of the United States, its valuable proper- 

 ties were here first properly appreciated, as a 

 hay grass taking precedence of all others. It 

 is said to have acquired its name of timothy 

 from its first introducer into Maryland, Ti- 

 mothy Hanson. It is a favourite grass in 

 Sweden, and is destined to become so in Eng- 

 land, although some of the highest British 

 authorities upon rural matters, Withering, 

 Swaine, Curtis, and others, have disapproved 

 of its culture, as having no properties in which 

 it is not greatly surpassed by the meadow fox- 

 tail. Probably some mistakes have been made 

 by the authorities who have treated upon the 

 subject, who have thus referred to different 

 grasses. This is rendered more probable from 

 the fact that the English Flora enumerates six 

 species of cat's-tail, but one of which seems to 

 have any particular claims to the attention of 

 the fanner. The Woburn experiments present 

 timothy as one of the most valuable grasses for 

 hay. In England, according to Donaldson, it 

 has very undeservedly sunk in estimation, as 

 being harsh, late, and yielding little aftermath, 

 and from possessing no quality in which it is 

 supposed not to be excelled by the foxtail 

 grass. This last observation must have pro- 

 ceeded from a very limited experience, for in 

 general purposes, and in a variety of soils and 

 of climate, it far exceeds the foxtail, and also 

 in yielding readily an abundance of sound, 

 healthy seed, while many of the seeds of the 

 foxtail are abortive, and the plant is very shy 

 of growth, and confined to the best cultivation. 

 576 



At the time of flowering, timothy grass pro- 

 duced on one acre 40,837 Ibs., when ripe it 

 yielded the same weight, but the quantity of 

 nutritive matter was more than doubled ; the 

 lattermath yielded 9528 Ibs., and the same 

 quantity of nutritive matter as at the time of 

 flowering: 1920 grains of. leaves gave 80 grains 

 of nutritive matter, and 100 grains of nutritive 

 matter gave 74 of mucilage or starch, 10 of 

 saccharine matter or sugar, and 16 of bitter 

 extractive or saline matter. The ripe crop ex- 

 ceeds the flowering in value as 14 to 5, which 

 circumstance gives great value to the plant for 

 the purpose of hay. If these statements of com- 

 parative produce and value be admitted as an 

 authority, it will be seen that cat's-tail exceeds 

 the foxtail grass in every respect except in the 

 produce of the lattermath: an advantage that is 

 much over-balanced by the greater produce and 

 the ready growth of the timothy grass. It thrives 

 much on peaty lands, and in humid climates, 

 and on all damp soils, and on those that pos- 

 sess a degree of loamy softness in their com- 

 position; and is unfit for hot sands, gravels, 

 and chalks, and for hard, sterile clays. With 

 that exception, experience on a great va- 

 riety of soils and for a long period of time 

 places this grass next to ray grass for general 

 utility. It grows readily and abundantly, yields 

 much seed and of good quality. On very good 

 lands, it has a tendency to produce height of 

 stems in place of number, and the leaves are 

 soon blanched and yellowed with rain in mak- 

 ing into hay; but the other grasses have a simi- 

 lar tendency, and they are all inferior to ray 

 grass in producing a crop of the greatest num- 

 ber of stems of an equal height. The time of 

 flowering is little if any later than the cock's- 

 foot, fescue, or ray-grass, and for one crop of 

 hay, or for two and three years' pasture, and 

 for permanent purposes, the meadow cat's-tail 

 must form a very considerable part of the 

 mixture. The comparative merits of this 

 grass will, from the above particulars, appear 

 to be very great ; to which may be added, the 

 abundance of fine foliage that it produces early 

 in the spring. In this respect it is only in- 

 ferior to the narrow-leaved meadow-grass (Poo, 

 angustifolia), and Poa fertilis. The value of the 

 straws at the time the seed is ripe exceeds that 

 of the grass at the time of flowering in the pro- 

 portion of 28 to 10, a circumstance which raises 

 it above many others; for, from this property, 

 its valuable early foliage may be pastured to 

 an advanced period of the season without in- 

 jury to the crop of hay, a treatment which, in 

 grasses that send forth their flowering straws 

 early in the season, would cause a loss of nearly 

 one half in the value of the crop ; and this pro- 

 perty of the straws makes the plant peculiarly 

 desirable for hay. Timothy is. doubtless a very 

 exhausting crop, and some persons think it en- 

 tirely too costly a provender for horses in com- 

 mon use, and only to be given to racers, &c. 

 Cock's-foot and rye-grass afford a much cheaper 

 ' hay, and are not such great exhausters of the 

 soil. It seems certain that for horses no kind 

 of hay is equal to timothy. Mixed with clover 

 it also makes an admirable hay, fit for both 

 horses and cattle. (See PI. 5, of Tall Hay- 

 grasses, a.) 



