[SoS. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



339 



"bastard fowl-meaclow," the German grass. They 

 resemble each other in appearance, and by many 

 botanists, are regarded as different species of the 

 same genus, both being esteemed as valuable ag- 

 ricultural grasses ; the American, however, being 

 quite superior to the German, allowing a good 

 Scotchman to be judge, and one, too, whose name 

 ranks among the ablest agricultural writers Great 

 Britain has ever produced. Loudon, in his En- 

 cyclopaedia of Plants, calls Poa Nervata a native 

 of North America ; and Poa fertilis or serotina, 

 a native of Germany. 



John Sinclair, in his "Code of Agriculture," 

 speaking of Poa fertilis, says it is a native of 

 Germany, and possesses considerable merit, on 

 account of its early and productive growth, deem- 

 ing it as being better adapted for "hay than de- 

 pasturing." Poa nervata, he says, is a native of 

 North America, and is distinguished for its nu- 

 tritive quality, — affecting moist soil, that is per- 

 fectly drained, and is a valuable addition in the 

 composition of pastures, and is very hardy, the 

 herbage being rich and succulent. David Low, 

 in his "Practical Agriculture," speaks of Poa fer- 

 tilis as a native of Germany, where it is esteemed 

 as one of the superior pasture grasses, where it 

 grows in wet soils and near rivers. 



Lawson, in his "Agricultural Manual," speaks 

 of the German grass, as Poa fertilis or serotina, 

 fertile meadow grass, as a grass growing natur- 

 ally in rich and moist soils ; and of Poa nervata, 

 nerved-seeded meadow grass, as a native of North 

 America, stating that it was introduced in Bri- 

 tain in 1822, and is an early spring grass. 



It will have been observed by the reader, that 

 the English botanists, agricultural experimenters 

 and writers, agree in calling Poa nervata the true 

 Fowl-meadow grass ; also, in calling it a native 

 product of North America. Botanists of this 

 country, from Willdenow down to Gray and Tor- 

 rey, are all agreed, with the exception of Nuttall, 

 who calls it Briza Canadensis. 



In Dr. Willich's "Domestic Encyclopaedia," 

 published in Philadelphia, 1821, it is called Herds- 

 grass, White-top, Fowl meadow grass of East 

 Jersey. Dr. Muhlenberg thinks it the same as 

 Agrostis stricta of Willdenow. [In this he is in 

 error, for it is the Poa nervata of Willdenow.] 

 It is particularly adapted to wet, low lands. It 

 mats and consolidates the surface, continues many 

 years, excluding every other grass, and weeds. 

 Many worthless swampy spots in the low parts 

 of New Jersey have been made valuable graz- 

 ing land by this grass, loaded wagons having 

 passed over places which two or three years be- 

 fore sowing it would scarcely admit an animal to 

 walk over without miring. 



It makes excellent hay, cattle preferring it to 

 either Timothy or Clover, it being better than 

 the former, because finer and more succulent. 

 The same bulk of herds-grass, [Fowl-meadow] 

 will weigh one-third more than the same of Tim- 

 othy. Four tons is a common crop for an acre. 

 It yields no second crop, but affords excellent 

 late and early pasturage. It was first brought 

 to New Jersey from New England, by the late 

 Wm. Foster ; and introduced into Pennsylvania 

 about 1810. 



Dr. Willich concludes this article by adding, 

 The Red -top and White-top are varieties of the 

 above ["Herds-grass"] species of grass. The 



latter is the larger of the two. The red-top is 

 particularly valuable, as it will grow and sod the 

 first year on banks, where no other grass will 

 thrive. 



Thomas G. Fessenden, editor of the old Ntw 

 England Farmer, says, this grass is called Herds- 

 grass and White-top at the South ; and we be- 

 lieve it belongs to the same genus with the Fio- 

 rin, first brought into notice by Dr. Richardson, 

 an English writer on Agriculture. Fiorin is 

 Agrostis stolonifera. Creeping-bent ; and Fowl- 

 meadow is Agrostis stricta. Upright-bent. 



In these remarks Mr. Fessenden most undoubt- 

 edly labored under a misapprehension, for he 

 acknowledges before closing his article, his want 

 of information or ability to answer the following 

 questions proposed by Chas. W. Macomber, of 

 Marshfield, and published in the N. E. Farmer 

 more than thirty years ago, as follows : 



1. What are the properties and uses of Fowl- 

 meadow grass ? 



2. What soil is best adapted to it ? 



3. Will it answer, provided the soil is over- 

 flowed sometimes by salt water ? 



4. In what manner should the soil be prepared 

 for the seed ? 



5. The quantity of seed per acre ? 



These inquiries have all been answered in this 

 article, but the third, which is so, by stating it is 

 not a salt marsh grass. 



John Lowell, nearly thirty years ago, addressed 

 a letter to the Trustees of the Massachusetts 

 Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, and 

 after recommending Herds-grass, white and red 

 Clover and Red-top, says, we want no more. They 

 are better for us than any of your outlandish 

 grasses. But wait, gentlemen, I reply : There 

 is the Yankee grass, unknown to many of you, 

 but well known to the owner of the extensive 

 meadows on Charles river, — the Fowl-meadow 

 grass. 



If this truly Yankee grass could be translated 

 to all the meadow bottoms and the naturally 

 moist, cold, half-peaty lands of New England, 

 their produce would at least be doubled. It is 

 difficult to procure the seed ; but its value is be- 

 yond all calculation. Low meadows are furnished 

 with Carices, unfit for forage. We have then 

 one species of grass not nsually known or culti- 

 vated, that is of inestimable value. It is no idle 

 speculation, but sober fact, and unless a defender 

 of ignorance will maintain that the Fowl-meadow 

 grass can only flourish in the Dedham meadows, 

 where first observed in Massachusetts, our agri- 

 culture has much to gain by the active, earnest, 

 and assiduous propagation of this grass. 



So much from Mr. Lowell, one of the best 

 Agricultural writers New England has ever pro- 

 duced. 



Dr. Bigelow, in his Plants of Boston and Vi- 

 cinity, 3d edition, speaks of Poa nervata, Fowl- 

 meadow or Meadow-spear grass, but says noth- 

 ing of Poa serotina, the Fowl-meadow of Dr. 

 Gray ; both Professors of the same University. 



Dr. Dewey, Professor in the University of 

 Rochester, N. Y., in his Report on the Herba- 

 ceous Plants of Massachusetts, gives Poa nervata, 

 Meadow-spear grass, Fowl-meadow grass ; but 

 says nothing of Poa serotina, it not being an 

 American grass. 



Having now set forth, authoritatively and quite 



