154 Wild Life in Wales 



Fescue ; and in due time a tuft of grass results, under 

 cover of which our original fern, or bilberry, may put forth 

 a few spore-bearing fronds, or flowers, and so aid in the 

 perpetuation of its species. By and by, as the tuft increases 

 in size, a wandering sheep is tempted to risk its neck for 

 the sake of the sweet mouthful that it affords, or it gives 

 shelter, and food, to the caterpillar of moth or other insect ; 

 and with the arrival of the animal, though temporary loss of 

 leaves may take place, increased fertility in the soil likewise 

 results. Droppings are scattered, and more seeds come, 

 and so the work goes on, till one day Dame Nature will 

 have draped the whole precipice with her greenery, and its 

 rugged nakedness will be hidden under a firm, luxuriant 

 turf. The process takes time, of course, but Nature can 

 afford to disregard the lapse of centuries, and what we see 

 going on around us is only the operation, in its earlier 

 stages, which has already clothed many a lesser hill and 

 scaur below. 



One of the most frequent grasses, on some of the 

 most exposed hill tops, is the useful little Poa annua, the 

 seeds of which, I suppose, must first find their way 

 thither in the wool of sheep, or by the agency of the 

 wind. It seems to crop up as naturally in little debris- 

 filled depressions on the mountain, as on the less trampled 

 corners of the busy town street, and here it bravely lifts its 

 head to the blast, and, where very much exposed, ripens its 

 seed on stems scarcely half an inch in height. It may be 

 remarked in passing that there is no plant better suited 

 than this for the renovation of putting greens on a golf 

 course, or for employment wherever the end in view 

 is the formation of a close, thick turf, in the shortest 

 possible time. No grass is more tolerant of close and 

 constant cutting, and none has the property of producing 

 seed, and so renewing itself, so close to the ground, and 

 under so many adverse circumstances. It is this very 

 persistence that makes it such a troublesome weed on 

 garden paths, and in places where it is not wanted ; but 

 in its proper sphere it is, par excellence^ the lawn-keeper's 

 best friend. 



