336 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



For the New Engtarui Farmer. 

 THE TKUE FO"WL.MEA.DO"W. 

 BY LEANDER WETIIERELL. 



There are two distinct sjjecies of grass, and by 

 some botanists considered of different genera, 

 called fowl-meadow by the farmers. One of them 

 is called Poa serotina by Gray, and the other 

 Glycerin nervata, the latter being indigenous to 

 America and the former to Germany. The 

 American grass is called Poa nervata by Willde- 

 now, and most of the old botanists; also by Wood, 

 in his "Class-Book of Botany." In Flint's 

 "Grasses and Forage Plants" it is called Poa 

 nervata, with the popular English names. Mea- 

 dow Spear grass, Nerved Manna grass. The for- 

 mer, whose cut was given in the Farmer of last 

 month, is called in the same work, Poa serotina ; 

 English names. Fowl-meadow — False red-top. It 

 is also called a native of Germany. The object 

 of preparing this article, is to show that the 

 American Poa nervata, or Glyceria nervata, and 

 not the German grass, Poa serotina or Poafer- 

 tilis, is the TRUE Fowl-meadow Grass of our in 

 tervals and wet meadows or swamps. 



The first description of the agricultural value 

 of this grass I have been able to find, is con- 

 tained in the "Essays upon Field-Husbandry in 

 New England," by the Rev. Jared Eliot, of Con- 

 necticut, and was written in 1748 more than a 

 century ago. 



After claiming Indian corn as a native of this 

 continent, Mr. Eliot adds, "There are two sorts of 

 grass which are natives of the country, which I 

 would recommend, — these are Herds-grass, 

 (known in Pennsylvania by the name of Timothy- 

 grass,) the other is Fowl-meadow, sometime< 

 called Duck-grass, and sometimes Swamp-wire 

 Grass. It is said that Herds-grass was first found 

 in a swamp in Piscataqua (now Portsmouth,) by 

 one Herd, who propagated the same ; that Fowl- 

 meadow-grass wag brought into a poor piece of 

 meadow in Dedham, by ducks and other wild wa- 

 ter-fowl, and therefore called by such an odd 

 name. It is supposed to be brought into the 

 meadows at Hartford by the annual floods, and 

 called there Swamp-wire grass. Of these two 

 sorts of natural grass, the fowl-grass is much the 

 best ; it grows tall and thick, makes a more soft 

 and pliable hay than Herds-grass, and conse- 

 quently will be more fit for pressing, in order to 

 ship off with our horses ; besides, it is a good 

 grass, not in abundance inferior to English grass. 

 It yields a good burden, three loads to the acre. 

 It must be sowed in low, moist land. Our drained 

 land,^ (meaning swamps,) when it is of sufficient 

 age, is land very agreeable to this sort of grass. 

 As the seed is very fine, there is danger of sow- 

 ing it too thick, as some have done, so as to 

 come up thick like hair ; this is a loss of seed and 

 prejudicial to the grass. 



When you bring to a swamp by flowing — 

 have killed your bushes, and have ditched your 

 land, and got it a little dry, you may sow 

 the seed among the trees and the bushes ; it will 

 come up and establish itself, and prevent bad 

 grasses from taking possession ; then you may 

 clear off the wood and brush at your leisure, and 

 you will have good grass to mow as fast as the 

 land is cleared. I have seen it grow knee high 

 where the dead brush were very thick. 



"This grass has another good quality, which 

 renders it very valuable in a country where help 

 is so much wanting ; it will not spoil or suffer, 

 although it stand beyond the common times for 

 mowing. Clover will be lost, in a great measure, 

 if it be not cut in the proper season. Spear- 

 grass, commonly called English grass, if it stands 

 too long, will be but little better than rye straw ; 

 if this outstand the time, it is best to let it stand 

 till there comes up a second growth, and then it 

 will do tolerably well ; but this fowl-grass may 

 be mowed any time from July to October. 



"One of my sons told me, that at New Fairfield, 

 he saw some stacks of it, that the people told 

 him were cut in October ; he pulled out some of 

 the hay ; it looked green, and had a good smell. 

 This is a great convenience in time of sickness, 

 or any other casualty whereby we may be hin- 

 dered from mowing in season. This good prop- 

 erty renders it a fit sort of grass for a new coun-' 

 try, where we often have business crowded too 

 hard upon us. Although Herds-grass be a valu- 

 able sort, yet the Fowl-meadow has quite eclipsed 

 its glory." 



In a subsequent essay Mr. Eliot, alluding to 

 this grass, again remarks : 



"In a former essay, I mentioned the strange 

 and peculiar property of Fowl-meadow grass, 

 that it will hold out to be in season for cutting 

 from the beginning of July till some time in Oc- 

 tober ; this I wondered at, but viewing some of 

 it attentively, I think I have found the reason of 

 it. When it is grown about three feet high it 

 then falls down, but does not rot like other grass 

 when lodged ; in a little time after it is thus 

 fallen down, at every joint it puts forth a new 

 branch ; now to maintain this young brood of 

 suckers there must be a plentiful course of sap 

 conveyed up through the main stem or straw; by 

 this means the grass is kept green and fit for 

 mowing all this long period. 



"Whether this young growth from the joints 

 be owing to the horizontal position of the straw, 

 or whether it is a confirmation of that doctrine 

 that the joints of plants are seed-vessels, 1 leave 

 for Naturalists to determine. 



"I find by experience that the best time to 

 mow this grass, is when these new branches or 

 suckers have obtained their full growth." 



Thus have I copied in full what Mr. Eliot's Es- 

 says contain on this interesting topic to the far- 

 mer. 



In the Patent Office Report of 1853, is a state- 

 ment relative to this same species of grass, by 

 Archibald Jones, Frankfort, State of Maine. Says 

 Mr. Jones : — "Among our native grasses, I would 

 call attention to the Fowl-meadow, which grew 

 wild at Madawaska before it was settled by the 

 Acadian French. It flourishes best on intervals, 

 which in the spring are overflowed, receiving a 

 rich deposite of sediment. It grows well also on 

 land artificially flowed, provided the water be 

 drawn off before warm weather, and the land well 

 drained ; if not, water-grasses will prevail over 

 the Fowl-meadow. Under favorable circumstan- 

 ces such as indicated, it produces a more valua- 

 ble crop than other grasses. Water lying upon 

 it all winter will kill it; but an occasional over- 

 flow will not. 



"Cutting it three or four years before the seed 

 ripens, will cause it to disappear. For hay, it 



