1837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



673 



this means there is an almost constant supply of 

 feed: for the hop-clover and rye-grass Kup|)!y it 

 early in the spring; the covv-2;rass is in perll>rtioii 

 in July, when the tbrmer decline; and the while 

 clover fi"om August to tiie remainder ol'llie season. 

 The gnisses, however, only last during five or six 

 years.* 



Aquatic Grasses. 



When, however, the soil is chiefly composed of 

 one principal ingredient, as, (ijr instance, if chalk, 

 peat, or very wet clay, greatly predominates, hut 

 tew of the grasses will grow in combination. 

 Thus several of the aquatic species which are 

 f(3und in wet low lands and boggy soils, will, howe- 

 ver thickly sown, ultimately become solitarj^: of 

 this nature are — 



Alopecurus geniculatus, or flote fox-tail, which 

 grows in situations so liable to inundation, that the 

 other good grasses, if sown there, are soon ex- 

 pelled. In respect to the degree of moisture which 

 it will support, it stands between the rough-stalked 

 poa and the flote fescue, and thus forms a connect- 

 ing link between our lens and moister meadovv 

 lands; ibrit is found in some of the richest marshes, 

 and is then much esteemed for its fattening quali- 

 ties, in pasture as well as for hay. It is a creeping- 

 plant, which flowers in May and June, an<l grows 

 from the centre in a nearly horizontal position, the 

 lower joints touching the ground, and it may be 

 propagated by slips. f 



Festuca fluitans, or flote fescue, which grows 

 sometimes in water and sometimes out of it, yet 

 cattle are so fond of it, that they oftert endanger 

 themselves to get at it, and it is said that the Ched- 

 dar and Cottenham cheese owe to it much ol their 

 celebrity. It springs early, and, when made into 

 hay, it is soft and pleasant, if cut in the sap, and 

 bears a bluish green color. There is also a variety 

 called festuca loliacea, which flowers in June and 

 July, and is found in marshy situations, where it 

 is considered a valuable grass, but it has a coarse, 

 broad, reed-like foliage. 



Jtira aquatica, or water hair-grass, which is 

 found ii^a wild state on the margins of pools of 

 standing water, where it flowers in June and July, 

 and is grown in someoflhose fens which have not 

 been perfectly drained, is also said to contribute 

 much to the fine (juality of the Cambridire butter. 



Poa aquatica, or water |)oa, also called reed mea- 

 dow-grass, flowers in July and August, and is very 

 hiifhly esteemed throughout the fen-lands of Cam- 

 bridgeshire and Lincolnshire. It is, indeed, so 

 particularly ahutidant as well as so much valued 

 in the Isle of Ely, that it there forms a great source 

 of their dairy riches, being considered excellent 

 food for cows, though not relished by horses, and 

 grows to the great height of , six feet; it is, howe- 

 ver, usually cut when about four feet hiah, and is 

 bound up into sheaves. When stacked, and light- 

 ly fermented, it acquires a white surface, and is 

 provinciaily termed " Ibdder," to distinguish it from 

 other kinds of coarse grass, which are called " sto- 

 ver." Immense tracts which were lorn\erly over- 

 flowed are now covered with this plant, vvliich, 

 from its strong stem and upright growth, is suited 

 to places unfit for the finer grasses : there is also a 

 variety, known as poa fluitans, or flote poa. 



* Ibid. p. 10. 

 t Survey of the county of Antrim, part i. p. 250. 

 Vol. IY-85 



Some of these have in many instances been 

 sown among the grasses recommended lor laying 

 down meadows, and in most wet soils, they de- 

 serve attention; fbr, on land where they tlirive, 

 they produce a great abundance of valuable Ibdder. 

 There is, however, no species of aquatic grass 

 which has of late years attracted so much alleri- 

 tion as that called 



j/grostis stnlonifera, or creeping bent-grass, now 

 more generally known as " Fiorin" — signifying, 

 as we understand, in the Irish language, "grassy," 

 and which much resembles the water hair-grass; 

 but of which there is also a variety called the 

 "broad-leaved bent." This, though ibrmerl}- well 

 known as a weed, was only introduced to public 

 notice as a cultivated grass within the last twenty 

 years, Avhen it was so highly extolled by the Rev. 

 Dr. Richardson, of Clonlecle, in the county of An- 

 trim, that it soon attracted general attention, and, 

 after minute investigation of its merits by several 

 eminent agriculiurists, the Doctor was honored 

 with a medal by the Board of Agriculture. In an 

 accoimt published by the Agricultural Society of 

 the Stewarty of Kirkcudbright, some of whose 

 members visited Dr. R.'s farm (or the purpose of 

 examining its qualities, it is described as putting 

 forth a great profusion of lateral strings, like the 

 side shoots by which strawberry increases, and by 

 which it is propagated ; but the roots penetrate but 

 a short distance info the soil, thus denoting that iia 

 chief sustenance is drawn from the atmosphere, 

 and it is represented — 



1st. To grow luxuriantly in low and swampy 

 grounds, which, but fbr the cultivation of it, would 

 be of little or no value. 



2ndly. That it grows in such great quantities in 

 irrigated meadows, which are most favorable to it, 

 that it has been known to produce above four 

 times the weight of any single crop in general 

 reared of any other grass. 



3rdly. That all cattle are so extremely partial to 

 it, as to prefer the hay made from it to any other 

 hay whatever; and that, from the length of time 

 which it annually vegetates, it may be used as 

 green food during the greater part of winter.* 



It, indeed, preserves its vegetable life so long, 

 that it continues in vigor fi'om the beginning of 

 October, until the end of March, and has not only 

 been actually made into hay in the month of De- 

 cember, but when allowed to lie uncovered in 

 small cocks, it did not rot as common hay would 

 hav.e done. As this, however, is a tedious and 

 troublesome process, it is better to give it to cattle 

 green, upon the soiling system, as it does not ad- 

 mit, of being pastured; and it has been found to 

 occasion a great flow of milk in cows, as well as 

 to give it a good flavor and superior richness. f 



* Farmer's Magazine, vol. xiii. p. 4. Dr. R. has 

 stated, upon the oath of the person who measured the 

 f^ioiuid and weighed the hay, " that one portion, not 

 manured the preceding year, produced at the rate of 

 6 tons the English acre ; that another portion, which 

 had b?.^n manured, yielded at th;' rate of 7 tons, 4 cwt. 

 and that when weighed, the hav was dry, rattling, and 

 mi^rchantable between man and man by weight." — 

 Ibid. vol. X. p. 508. 



t It has been stated, on thi- authority of Sir James 

 Stewart, of Coltness, Bart., th:it Imp average produce 

 of butter fed, sometimes with 8 lbs. of steamed pota- 

 toes, with an unlimited quantity of oat-straw, and at 



