APPENDIX E.—INDIGENOUS GRASSES OF BRITAIN. 201 
be worth three or four acres of the first and second year. I have 
further observed, that the plant is no where so long lived as in the 
sandy downs.—Very particular care should be taken in the choice 
of the seeds of this plant, as the old seeds will not vegetate. 
I would not have it to be understood, that the fifteen plants 
enumerated above, are all the indigenous vegetables which I could 
recommend for trial by cultivation. Being unwilling to exceed the 
limits prescribed by the Honourable Society, I have confined 
myself to such as I thought preferable to others which have come 
under my observation. A full discussion of the British grasses, 
and of their various and comparative merits, would require a 
volume. 
metas See bE 
ON THE PURPOSES TO WHICH THE PLANTS BEFORE RECOMMENDED MAY 
BE APPLIED; AND THE PROPORTIONS OF PARTICULAR SEEDS TO BE 
USED IN VARIOUS SOILS. 
1. For dry gravelly soils. 
In almost every upland farm, there are many acres under tillage 
that produce a scanty and unprofitable crop; and to which manure 
cannot be easily or conveniently applied. In such case, if the soil 
be dry and gravelly, and there is no prospect of soon restoring the 
field to a state of tillage, the following proportions of seeds will, in 
my opinion, ensure a permanent pasture. 
Festuca duriuscula, Hard fescue grass, one half, 
Poa pratensis, Smooth stalked meadow grass, one fourth, 
Poa compressa, Flat stalked meadow grass, one fourth. 
In estimating the quantity to be sown, the cultivator may reckon 
upon one third less seed than he would take of rye grass, as the 
Poas form large plants. 
If it be intended to render the field arable again in a year or two, 
as the Poa pratensis and compressa have running roots, and are 
therefore eradicated with difficulty, we may substitute 
Poa nemoralis, Wood meadow grass, one half, 
Poa glauca, Blue meadow grass, one fourth, 
Poa alpina, Alpine meadow grass, one fourth. 
This will secure herbage in the most elevated situations; but if 
the soil be tolerable, and a crop of hay expected, the Poa nemoralis 
may be used alone. 
