A SALAD. 117 



than there is in softer hay. Now, let any one 

 examine this bent, which cannot be mistaken from 

 other grass; I think they will find it about as 

 hard, and, in nourishing properties, about on a 

 par with the wicker of which a clothes-basket 

 is made, and about as easy of digestion. What 

 set-ofF there is against what I must consider as 

 tolerably forcible objections, I never yet found out. 

 Hay should, in a general way, grow on uplands, 

 although, I allow, bent, or bennets, as they are 

 sometimes called, generally do grow there, because 

 in very poor uplands they are the only thing that 

 wilL But '^ good upland hay " speaks for itself ; 

 it should come from good upland, not from sterile, 

 dry hills, where little but this bent will grow. 



Long tangled grass (unless it is artificial grass) 

 is as bad as the dry bent, but, from another 

 cause, it is generally more or less sour, con- 

 sequently flatulent and not nutritious. This 

 grows on low swampy soil, and is only fit for 

 cows, and only the best sort for them. Real good 

 hay should (like that delightful adjunct to a 

 dinner-table, a really good salad) consist of 

 variety, all sweet and nutritious. Who would 

 touch a salad consisting of only the long green 

 lettuce ? Parmentier's salad vinegar, with Kitch- 

 ener's double relish added to its other sauce in- 

 gredients, could not make it tolerable. 



It is quite a mistake that all soft hay is bad for 



