GRASS. 



GRASS 



Crested hair-grass (Aim cris'a(a) - 

 Giant lyme-L'rass (Klijmun jfiifanteus) 

 ptttumNtnt m.-adow-urans (/'on decumbent) 

 .heat -grass (TriHcum spelta) 



vh-ai-L'ras< ('i''i>icum trnue) 

 I i \v!ieat-L'rass ; I'rficuiit caniniim) 



~ \vln-at srass ( Trinrum raninum var.) 

 Common bent-irrass (A^naHis vulgaris) - 

 Upright mat yrass (.Yiirdu* *trictu) - 

 Small spurious tare (Kmim Krcilin) 

 Hroad-l.-aved o:tt-gras (.tfeena planicvlmis) - 

 Hairy tare (Krrum liirsutum) - - - - 

 I i-ded tare (rcu/n letraspcrmum) - 



filanroiix meadow-grass (Poo glauca) 

 Prm mi. bent meadow-grass (Poa procumbens) - 

 Lontz rooted clover t Trifutium macrurhizum) PI. 



. - 



\\'.ind hent-trraiis (Jlvrosii* fylra'ictis) 

 Tall fV-rtile iVsc-.ie grass (Pettucu elatior fertilin) 

 M.iny-tl.iwering ljrome-gras< (Brumui titultijlti- 



Philaitelphian lyme-grass (Elymut Pkiladelphi- 



- 



Sordid vetch ( Picia sordid*) - 

 Slend.-r-h-av.-d vetch (Ftria trnuifolia) - 

 He..rdl.-.s8 tall oat-grass (Itoleus acenacevt muti- 



Red hrome-L'ra-is (7fr,////u.< ruhrns) - 

 IVuihin> melit-crass (.Vrlica K'luhini) 

 i nlnprtttrmdet) 



M (f-'Juiitus hyitni) - 

 Karreii broiii"- /* teri^w) 



Jointed l-'.liiiniis ffiniculatui) 



CJ'.'den iial (Arma fiurrsrtnt) - 

 I'lne-panicled (.irundu t'tilnmagri'gtit) 



. !>arl.-y-j;ra?is(//..rr/uiii (irutritsc) PI. 5, d 

 Narr >w l.-avi-d hroni.- ( Hrumns ang *tifoliut) 

 Slenilt-r rye grass (Lolium tenue) - 

 S|irar-|iaiucled l>rom>--^ras (Brown* 



/i/>) 



Rainfoin (OnokrycAw x/ira) PI. 8,/ 



6 to w 



6-2U 

 6 



7 



9 



9 



10-93 

 10 

 10 

 10 

 20 



21-30 

 21 

 S4 

 94 



21 

 24 



WinL'.-d !>ri>me-gras (Bromun pinnattu) - - 88- 



}ir.)\vn ln-iit ara-s (Agrostu caniita) - - J9 1 



Hnmli rHlpariifaieicularit) M 



rti'ii-h grass ('/'ritinii* rcptns) - - - 9 



Wood vrtrlM / ii M #y/ea<iea) - - - - 30 



Tufieil vetch (riciacracca) .... 

 Foxtail oat-L'rass (Aetna aloptfuroiilet) - 



- hrown bent (A'rro-tia c-tntna var. M- 



5-12 



- 615 



. 8 



i'mirh nenl-grass (Ajrro.itt.i alb i) 

 Florin L'rass (A. stulunifera) PI. 5, * 

 And many others. 



C'osiinion'reed itrafs (Arundo phra?miiyg) - 1015 



Ameri' nosuroidet) 10 



??t ift'whi -at -crass (Triticuiii ri^idum) - 1213 



or six others. (Sinclair'* Hon. Gram. H'ob. p. 



Of these grasses those regarded in England 

 as the chief and most useful sprries and varie- 

 ties are comprehended in the following list: 



Agrostis canina 



A'-Tn-ii- stoluiiifVra. 



Alop.-ciiriM t>r !' 



A nl ho \a nt hum odoratum. 



Avena tlaves. 



A vena pratensis. 



Hri/.a m.-,tia. 



Bromus arveitsis. 



Cow-era>s, or perennial 



r.'d clover. 

 CynoHiirus erislaius. 

 Dactylis elomerata. 

 Fesliica cambrica. 

 Festuca duriiiscula. 

 Fesiuca dnitans. 

 I'f-tni-a ^lahra. 

 Ffstura heterophylla. 

 F.-snica hordeiformis. 



i nvina. 

 Festuca pratensis. 



Featuca rum a. 



Festuca sylvatira. 



Festuca tenuifolia. 



Holcus avenareue. 



Holcu lanatiis. 



Hordeiim pratensis 



Lolium perenne. 



Phleuni (iratensid. 



Pna annua. 



Poa ca-rulea. 



Pna fertilia. 



Poa nemoralis. 



Poa nervata. 



Toa pratensis. 



Poa trivialis. 



HIM! suckling. 



Rih-grass. 



Trefoil. 



White or Dutch clover. 



Yarrow. 



From some experiments, given in the Trans, 

 S "*. vol. ii. p. 250, by Messrs. Lawson & 

 Co., it would seem that the raising of the seeds 

 of the artificial grasses is attended with con- 

 siderable profit. 



The late Mr. Blakie suggested a very excel- 

 lent plaK for saving the seeds of down grasses 



or of those grasses which are peculiarly adapt- 

 ed for elevated dry soils (Farm. Journ. March 

 17, 1823), viz. to fence off' a sufficient portion 

 >f these pastures, choosing such portions as 

 have the best kind of grasses, and to mow these 

 enclosures for seed in succession, at three, four, 

 or more different periods of the season. "By 

 these means," said Mr. G. Sinclair, "the seeds 

 of the early, midsummer, and late vegetating 

 grasses will be obtained, and which could not, 

 it is evident, be obtained by one mowing in one 

 ii. This is," he adds, "a highly valuable 

 mode of obtaining the seeds of those grasses 

 adapted for downs ; which, to cultivate sepa- 

 rately for the seed, would be a fruitless under- 

 taking. Fence the selected turf well, and early 

 in the season, and prepare for mowing by pick- 

 ing the stones or rubbish from the surface, and 

 !ing. As the seeds ripen, employ a care- 

 ful bird-watcher. Mow in dry, favourable wea- 

 ther. If the swaths are heavy, they should be 

 turned with great caution, so as not to shake 

 tit the ripe seeds. As soon as the mowing is 

 dry, the seed should be immediately thrashed 

 out on a close woven cloth in the field, and on 

 a dry day; and when a certain portion of the 

 later grasses ripen their seed, another mowing 

 should be effected, and so on, until all the 

 grasses in the enclosure have perfected their 

 seed." (llort.dr.mi. MW-. p. :3J, 40.) "As every 

 different soil," continues Sinclair, in another 

 portion of his invaluable work, "produces 

 grasses peculiar to itself, and as no other kinds 

 can be established or cultivated upon it with- 

 out first changing its nature to resemble that 

 which produced the kind of grasses we wish 

 to introduce; it becomes a point of the firot 

 importance in making experiments on different 

 species of this numerous family of plants, and 

 in stating results, to determine with sufficient 

 accuracy the nature of the soil or different soils 

 employed. The basis of every improvement in 

 the cultivation of grasses is to sow the seeds 

 of those species only which are adapted to the 

 soil, or to change the nature of unsuitable soils 

 to that which is fitted for the growth of grasses 

 most desirable to be cultivated; and, unless 

 this important point is in the first place at- 

 tended to, disappointment rather than success 

 may be expected to follow the labours of the 

 farmer." 



1. Of the grasses of rich natural pastures. 

 Every farmer is aware that peculiar grasses 

 are the productive tenants of his rich natural 

 pastures, and that if these are ploughed up, and 

 a course of grain crops tak*n from the soil, a 

 considerable period elapses before the turf with 

 which it was formerly covered can be restored. 

 George Sinclair carefully noted this fact, and 

 examined, not altogether unsuccessfully, its 

 cause. He observed that "the different grasses 

 and other plants which compose the produce 

 of the richest natural pastures are in number 

 26, and that from the spring to the end of au- 

 tumn there is not a month that does not con- 

 stitute the particular season rf luxuriance of 

 one or more of these grasps, hence proceeds 

 the constant supply of rich, succulent herbage 

 throughout the whole of the season, a circum 

 stance which but seldom or never happens in 

 artificial pastures, where the herbage consisU 



571 



