AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 17 



it should be frequently and closely cropped, either with the 

 scythe or cattle, to reap the full benefit of its great merits, I 

 should prefer it to almost every other grass ; and cows are 

 very fond of it. Cooper rates it above timothy, and says it 

 is graduall}^ taking the place of the latter among the best 

 farmers about Philadelphia. This is probably owing to the 

 fact that it is earlier than timothy, and of course more suita- 

 ble to cut with clover for hay. Its growth is early and ra- 

 pid, after it has been cropped. It does well on loams and 

 sands, and grows well in shade. 



If farther facts are wanting in favor of this grass for pas- 

 ture, the reader will find them in an article in the American 

 Farmer of the 14th November, 1823, wdth the signature, sup- 

 posed to be colonel Pow^el's, a gentleman who combines as much 

 science with judicious practice, especially in cattle and grass 

 husbandry, as any person in the Union. He says, " I have 

 tried orchard grass for ten years. It produces more pastu- 

 rage than any artificial grass I have seen in America." Sow 

 two bushels of seed to an acre. 



Tall Oat Grass. Both Arator (Mr. Taylor) and Dr. 

 Muhlenburgh have placed this at the head of their lists of 

 grasses, which they have recommended to the attention of 

 the American farmer. The latter says it is of all others 

 the earliest and best grass for green fodder and hay. The 

 doctor was, probably, not apprized of its deficiency in nutri- 

 tive matter as indicated in the table. It possesses the ad- 

 vantage of early, quick, and late growth, for which the cock's 

 foot is esteemed, tillers well, and is admirably calculated for 

 pasture grass. I measured some on the 20th of June, when 

 in blossom, when it should be cut for hay, and found it four 

 and a half feet long. The latter math is nearh; equal in 

 weight, and superior in nutritious matter to the seed crop. 



Tall Feraie, although a native grass, has not fallen under 

 my persona^ observation. It stands highest, says Davy, 

 according to the experiments of the duke of Bedford, of any 

 grass, pr )perly so called, as to the quantity of nutritive matter 

 afforded by the whole crop, when cut at the time of flower- 

 ing; ar»d meadow cat's-tail (timothy) grass affords most 

 food, when cut at the time the seed is ripe. It grows natu- 

 rally in wet grounds, in bog meadows, and on the sides of 

 ditches :)fien to the height of four or fi^e feet. Our igno- 

 rance (>^ arricuitural botany, and of the intrinsic value of 

 this gr»«?s, can lAone have preverted its being more generally 

 known ind cultivated. It must be very valuable for wet 

 2^ 



