ON VEGETATION. 241 



their superior growth ; while bare patches in other 

 places told us of aridity and failure: the meadow grass 

 (poa) and ray grass (lolium perenne) were great suffer- 

 ers ; the dog's tail (cynosurus) supported itself better ; 

 tb^e cock-foot (dactylis), though not killed, was so much 

 hurt, that its ensuing vegetation) instead of the coarse 

 luxuriance it generally manifests, was dry, hard, and 

 deficient in succulency, or, as our laborers emphatically 

 ay, was "stunned ;" and bent-grass (agrostis vulgaris), 

 that certain indicator of a dry soil, appeared more than 

 it commonly does. But this destruction of the roots in 

 very many places was not obvious, the turf, as it was, 

 remaining ; yet some injury was apparent in the suc- 

 ceeding summer and autumn. The crop cut for hay 

 was unusually abundant, and seemed to have exhausted 

 the roots by its growth, as no after-grass sprang up; nor 

 did the pastures which were fed afford more than a dry, 

 hard, yellow provender, looking tanned, as if seared by 

 severe frost; and in September, when in general we 

 expect our fields to yield an abundance of grass, as food 

 for months, they presented commonly the aspect of 

 hard-fed lands in March, though so much rain had 

 fallen, both in July and August, as to lead us to expect 

 profusion. It did not appear that the roots had actually, 

 perished ; which could not have been the case, by pro- 

 ducing the mowing crops that they did ; but this was a 

 single effort : the injury was manifested by the defi- 

 ciency'of the autumnal vigor ; this was the actual re- 

 sult, difficult as it is to assign a satisfactory reason. 

 Perhaps these effects upon our pasture lands were un- 

 precedented : but these things pass away, unless re 

 corded ; and though we may resort to the oldest memory 

 for evidence, yet memory is oblivious, often exaggerative, 

 and cannot safely be trusted. 



June and July, 1825. The quantity of that sweet 

 clammy fluid, which we find upon certain leaves, and 

 commonly call " honey-dew," was more than usually 

 abundant during these months. r ln the day-time, bees, 

 wasps, and tribes of flies collected to feed upon it, and 

 in the evenings, moths and insects of the night fre- 

 quented the fruit-trees on our walls, particularly the 



