200 THE LIFE AND WORK OF GEORGE DON. 
13. Sesleria cerulea' (Cynosurus ceeruleus, L.) is the earliest of the 
British grasses, producing its flowers about the end of March, and 
ripening in May. Dr. Martyn saw it pushing out spikes on 16th 
March, 1792, and recommends it for culture. It is a native of Ben 
Lawers and other Highland mountains. I received specimens from 
York-shire, which were gathered in an upland wood. Of all the 
grasses which I know, this seems the most eligible for early pasture. 
I have cultivated it for ten years past in sterile dry sandy soil, like- 
wise in good soil, and under trees, and it seemed little changed by 
soil or situation. In all it produced well. It is furnished with a 
vast number of radical leaves, which form close séoo/s of a large 
size. It is capable of resisting the severity of the winter, and on 
that account I have long considered it as one of the most valuable 
of the British grasses. When the season advances, the leaves 
become strong, and feel harsh to the touch; but I found, on making 
the experiment, that cows, though fed in the house, preferred these 
seemingly coarse leaves to all other food that was offered them. In 
short, I am confident that no other grass better deserves attention ; 
for its early growth, and the thick pasturage it affords, I certainly 
hold it unrivalled. 
14. Vicia cracca?. This vetch has been recommended by Dr. Plot, 
and also in Anderson’s essays. It grows frequently in stony places, 
in meadows, and very commonly in hedges, where it often rises to 
a great height. Cattle are very fond of it. It may be, in some 
cases, an advantage, and in others an objection, that it takes so deep 
and so strong a hold of the soil, that it is almost impossible to eradi- 
cate it. It might produce a very profitable crop among stones; and 
on bare spots where scarce any thing else would vegetate. 
15. Medicago sativa®. This plant which is now naturalized in 
Britain, certainly produces a very superior kind of pasture on sandy 
Though writers on this subject have not adverted much to 
cht divctiinstance: I have long considered the chief merit of this 
plant to be, that it sends forth a number of long and strong roots, 
which penetrate deep into the sand, and which enables it to resist 
the longest droughts. I have seen plants of it flourishing in the 
arid sand, when all the surrounding vegetables were completely 
scorched. There is still another property for which it is valuable : 
in such a soil, the longer it remains in the ground, the better is the 
crop; so that an acre of twelve or fourteen years standing, would 
1 Blue moor grass. 
? Tufted Vetch. 
* Lucerne. 
