TRACTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, &c. 103 



many hours necessary in vainly atlempting to fill himself on 

 parched and I)are pasture lands. In the first case the animal would 

 soon be satisfied, and might go to sleep : but in the second he 

 must necessarily waste the whole day in wandering- over many 

 acres, until he is wearied — and after all he must lay down almost 

 famished : this is the fate of many poor neglected animals on St. 

 Helena ; who are left to provide for their own wants ; and of 

 which but too many indeed often perish for want of assistance, and 

 .sufficient sustenance. 



Indian Corn, or Maize. 



It appears by the Statistique gtnerale et particuliere de la 

 France, that this grain is cultivated in several of the departments 

 with a view to fodder the cattle — and, when ripened, it is used for 

 feeding^ poultry, &:c. Lord Caledon informed me, when he visited 

 this island in July 1811, that he always used it at the Cape of 

 Good Hope for his carriage horses, and had found it to be extremely 

 nourishing'. At that time I had a small patch, measuring 44 by 

 33 feet, which was then grown to the height of about eight feet — 

 and in seed. It had been dibbled three inches deep, and three 

 seeds in each hole (as many of the seeds were bad) on the 6th of 

 April 1811. On the 17th it had come up well, and afterwards 

 grew luxuriantly. On the 30th of July I ascertained the pro- 

 duce of one square rod to be 425 pounds, which is 68,000 

 pounds, or 30 tons per acre. The seed had been 115 days in 

 the soil ; and although the lower parts of the stems were at this 

 age rather hard, the whole was greedily devoured in the hog- 

 gery. But, as a green fodder for horses, or cattle, or for hogs, it 

 would be better to cut it after two or three months from the time of 

 sowing — uhen the steins will be soft, and more tender and juicy. 

 In this state it would prove a very nutricious fodder — and I 



