Festuca ovma, Fesiuca inibra^ and Bromus pratensis. 467 



have little or no flavour, perhaps not equal to that of a good 

 turnip. 



I may here mention that I have tried various plans, held by 

 some as sure remedies, to destroy the red spider, but found none 

 equal to the old one, namely, plenty of moisture. By the by, 

 some will have the insect in question to be a mite and not a 

 spider at all ; this may be, but it will always be more than a mite 

 in a gardener's eye. To his cost, the insect, like the mite, is 

 prolific, but luckily, like a spider, forms a web that retains 

 moisture injurious to the young progeny; otherwise sprinkling 

 would be of little or no avail, and the havoc done by an insect to 

 appearance a mite great indeed. 



Cossey Hall Gardens, near Norwich, June 26. 1841. 



Art. XIII. Notice on FestUca ovma L., Yesthca rhbra L., and 

 bromus pratensis L., as Pasture Plants. By M. Vilmorin. 



Amongst the things which you must have been interested in 

 seeing here, if you had been able to accomplish what you in- 

 tended doing, there is one on which I promised you some notes, 

 viz. the cultivation, on a large scale, of certain grasses for pasture 

 and seed. You will have, perhaps, thought that I had forgotten 

 this promise, but that is not the case ; I have always had it in 

 view, but being continually occupied in experimental cultivation 

 of various kinds, I do scarcely anything that I wish to do ; I 

 hope, therefore, that you will excuse the delay of this commu- 

 nication. 



Its object is to recommend three grasses for pasturage, viz. 

 meadow brome-grass (bromus pratensis Z.., B. erectus Sinclair), 

 sheep fescue (i^estuca ovina L.), and creeping fescue (jFestiica 

 rubra i.). These are plants of a very inferior quality, if we 

 compare them with the species which constitute the riches of 

 good hay fields : but nothing in nature is absolutely useless ; and 

 as pence are more serviceable to the poor than guineas to the 

 rich, these plants, of very little value in the eyes of a farmer of 

 good land, become a treasure to one who cultivates dry and 

 barren soils. 



You will recollect, perhaps, that at the time I left you at Fon- 

 tainebleau, about twelve months ago, to come hither, the drought 

 had for a length of time been parching up several of the midland 

 provinces, and this one in particular. I had heard such lamen- 

 tations of the want of grass, and the impossibility of feeding the 

 cattle, that I expected to find my farm in the most deplorable 

 state. Fortunately this was not the case, as to the sheep par- 

 ticularly. The day after my arrival, on the first turn I took 



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