192 THE USES OF PLANTS. 



agriculture, naturally conservative in its methods, has 

 never been able to bear up against the flood of foreign 

 corn that has poured in upon us in a stream of con- 

 stantly increasing proportions since the commence- 

 ment of Free Trade. But little has been done, 

 however, to endeavour by the introduction of new 

 crops to meet this difficulty. The most notable 

 changes that have taken place are those which have 

 accompanied the growth of cattle and dairy-farming, 

 and the increased use of oil-cakes and other feeding- 

 stuffs, and of artificial fertilizers. These lie outside 

 our province ; but the introduction of sewage-farming 

 has been accompanied by the cultivation of the 

 ITALIAN RYE-GRASS (Lolium italicum, Braun.), which 

 has achieved a great success. Reference has already 

 been made to the utility of MAIZE and SORGHUM as 

 fodder-plants; and in 1842 Sir Joseph Hooker intro- 

 duced the TUSSACK-GRASS (Dactylis ccespitosa, Forst.,) 

 of the Falkland Islands, of which cattle are very fond, 

 and which has been successfully established in the 

 Hebrides. The most generally useful, however, of 

 new fodder-plants has probably been the PRICKLY 

 CAUCASIAN COMFREY (Symphytum peregrinum, 

 Ledeb.) ; and this and other similar plants have had 

 their value greatly enhanced by the adoption during 

 the last few years of the process of ensilage. 



PART IX. MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS. 



THOUGH our survey has been necessarily a cursory 

 one, the system adopted has left various substances 



