674 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



There is, however, this inconvenience in giving it 

 in that state — that, being a jointed plant, and very 

 tenacious of tiie power of vegetation, any part of 

 it which happens to be left by the callle, and is 

 thrown out upon the dunghill, if afterwards laid 

 upon arable land before it is completely decom- 

 posed, will there take root, and spread in a man- 

 ner which renders it very difficult to be got rid of: 

 it has even been thus found to spring up when 

 taken fi"om the hay-rick. 



Although it may be propagated by the seeds, 

 yet they are of such slow growth that they are 

 apt to be overpowered by weeds, and the better 

 mode is to plant small cuttings of the grass in the 

 latter end of autumn : fine crops have indeed 

 been obtained which were planted in the middle 

 of December. The land should be drained as 

 well as circumstances may permit; for although it 

 suits a wet soil, and irrigated land, yet the water 

 should not be suffered to rest upon it: the ground 

 should then be well cleaned and pulverized, and 

 the cuttings scattered over the surface, after which 

 it should be very slightly covered with loose earth, 

 or with peat ashes and earth well mixed. These 

 cuttings are prepared in the simplest manner by 

 twisting the strings into loose ropes about the 

 thickness of the arm, and then cutting them with 

 a hedge-bill upon a plank into lengths of about 

 three inches and a half. When the crop comes 

 up, it should be carelully weeded two or three 

 times during the first year ; after which there will 

 be no occasion tor a repetition of that process.* 



We have thus inserted florin among the list of 

 aquatic plants, for it certainly thrives best on very 

 wet soils, bogs, and cold claj's, or upon land that 

 has been irrigated ; and although it can be grown 

 on sand and other poor soils, yet the crops are 

 there very insignificant, and it requires not only a 

 wet soil, but also a moist climate, to bring it to per- 

 fection. Its most valuable quality appears to be the 

 green food which it produces throughout the win- 

 ter ; for, on land that is too heavy to admit of tur- 

 nips, there can be no doubt that it may be rendered 

 a valuable addition to the straw yard. On those 

 peaty soils which abound throughout Scotland and 

 Ireland, and the climate of the latter of wliich, as 

 well as that of the west of Scotland, favors its pro- 

 duction, it may also he considered very advanta- 

 geous, especially if planted alone, unmixed with 

 other grasses ; but in other situations it is exposed 

 to the objection of neither supplying spring-food, 

 nor producing a second crop within the same year. 

 Although succulent and palatable, and shown 

 upon the authority of experiments on the fattening 

 of cattle, stated by Mr. Alton, to be ca|)able of' 

 lixttiiig a stot of upwards of thirty stone, in one 

 hundred to one hundred and filty days, according 

 to the condition of the animal when put up, with 

 less than fifty pounds of florin hay alone, without 

 any other food ;t yet this has been contradicted by 

 other details,J and its cultivation has not been so 



otlier times with 16 lbs. of fiorin hay, and straw in lilce 

 manner, was as .55^ to 39g onnces, from 6 gallons of 

 milk; or 40 per cent, in favor of fiorin— Farm. Mag. 

 vol. xxi. p. 5!). 



* See Tracts on Fiorin Grass, by the Rev. Dr. Rich- 

 ardson, and Davy's Agric. Chcm. p. 366. 



t Farmer's Magazine, vol. xvi. p. 53. 



X See the Reports of the Counties of Antrim, part 

 i., p. 250 ; Derby, vol. ii. p. 202; StaSbrd, p. 72; and 

 Dumfries, p. 256. 



generally diflfused, even in those situations to 

 which it is peculiarly appropriate, as the accounts 

 oriirinally given of it seemed to promise. 



The choice of these aquatic plants must be re- 

 gulated by the different degrees of moisture in the 

 soil. On fens and morasses, if fiorin should not be 

 chosen, perhaps there is none better, after a first 

 drainage, than the water poa, which, by its spon- 

 taneous growth, will afford large crops, and at the 

 same time allow the land time to settle. Such 

 soils, however, consisting chiefly of decayed vege- 

 table njatter, require the aid of lime, or some alka- 

 line substance, to bring it into action ; after which 

 they may be brought in the regular course of cul- 

 tivation, to produce good permanent pasture. In 

 situations not quite so wet, the flote fescue, flote 

 fox-tails, and rough-stalked poa may be added ; 

 and on land still belter drained, the following mix- 

 ture has been recommended: — 



Flote fox-tail, 

 Flote fescue, 

 Rough-stalked poa, 

 Meadow fox-tail, 

 Meadow fescue, 

 Vernal grass, 



4 quarts, 

 2 do. 

 2 pecks, 

 2 pecks, 

 2 do. 

 2 quarts. 



The latter, if the land be merely intended for pas- 

 ture, may be omitted ; but if meant for hay, should 

 always be added.* 



Winter Grasses. 



On sheep-walks, or grass-fiirms, which are defi- 

 cient in winter pasturage, Mr. Sinclair recommends 

 the introduction of the following hardy and pro- 

 ductive grasses, by tlie means which we have al- 

 ready stated of scarifying and top-dressing; name- 

 ly- 

 Tall meadow-grass, and meadow fescue, 3 pecks. 

 The former only on very heavy land 

 constantly fed by cattle ; and on san- 

 dy soils, one or more of the hard- 

 fescue, smooth-fescue, or creeping- 

 fescne, should be substituted for both 

 the above. 

 Cock's-fbot, 4 " 



Timothy, if the soil be very cold and 

 clayey ; and on peaty soils, both spe- 

 cies to be sown equally divided, § '•' 

 Tall oat-grass, 2 " 

 Broad-leaved benf, or fiorin, 1 " 

 Woolly soft-grass, only in cases of con- 

 siderable elevation and poverty of 

 . soil, when it may be substituted for 

 florin ; and the oat-grass may also 

 be left out, making good the deflcien- 

 cy, however, by a proportionate in- 

 crease in the other species. 

 Pacey's perennial rye-grass 3 "^ 

 Burnet, 2 " 

 Perennial red clover, or cow-grass, 6 lbs. 

 While clover, 8 " 



The quantities of the above have, however, 

 been calculated according to the full complement 

 requisite to form a new and com|)Iete pasture — 

 only omitting the dwarf grasses, which are not 

 necessary to be enumerated — but the proportion of 



* Comm. to the Board of Agric, vol. iii. p. 445. 

 Antrim Rep., part. i. p. 249. 



