154 WORCESTER SOCIETY. 



great request for lawns, upon arid soils, for it forms as thorough 

 mat or sward as rye grass, and powerfully resists the bad effects 

 of aridity. Yet though comparatively an unproductive grass, 

 it possesses several recommendations to the store farmer ; it 

 affords a little early food to sheep, it does not strike deep root, 

 and it readily and without aid from man, propagates itself from 

 its seed." Cheat or chess is of this family. 



Rural Encyclopsedia, vol. 2, page 505, under the head of 

 grasses, says, " some grasses which yield great bulk of produce 

 and possess considerable or even large proportion of nutritiveness, 

 are hastily condemned by multitudes of farmers on account of 

 their coarse appearance. Cattle select their food by an instinct- 

 ive recognitionofwholesomeness, universally and most benign- 

 ly conferred on them by the all benevolent Creator ; and they 

 treat grasses, not at all according to their appearance, hut 

 wholly according to their odor, their flavor, and their intrinsic 

 properties ; but unreflecting farmers select, or approve, the her- 

 bage of their farms almost wholly by the eye, and are liable to 

 reject with scorn any newly imported grass which seems any 

 way akin in bulk or massiveness to the bulrushes or the sedges. 

 " I have often observed, in showing even very intelligent farm- 

 ers my collection of grasses," says Mr. Gorrie, of Annat, " that 

 if any species sheweth strength of stem, with luxuriance of 

 herbage, and consequently promising extraordinary weight of 

 forage, that species was without hesitation pronounced coarse 

 and unworthy of further attention, till the opinion of a horse or 

 a cow, as a qualified reference, was taken on the subject." 



What would be the verdict of a jury of cows on the qualities 

 of this brome grass, the committee have no means of knowing. 

 If in tlieir judgment they confirm the opinion of Mr. Willard 

 as to ihc superiority of this grass, then will the agricultural 

 community owe him a large debt of gratitude for having intro- 

 duced to notice here, a species of grass which is highly bene- 

 ficial on light sandy soils, much superior to any other species, 

 and producing most abundantly on land of better quality. But 

 if that jury shall not relish the evidence laid before them, the 

 introduction of this grass will not be unattended with benefit, 

 not only on the poor lands before mentioned, but will be highly 



