. 



168 



r 



any considerable quantity, as a constituent of a mixture of grasses for laying down such soils to 



grass 



^^^ r 



It flowers in the second week of June, and the seed is ripe about the beginning or in th 

 middle of July. 



Melica C€&rulea. Purple Melic-g 



Specific 



Panicle compact, equal; spikets erect, oblong-cylindrical; culms with 



r 



one joint, very rarely two. 



Obs.-^^oot fibrous, tough, often twisted. Culm from six inches to two feet high, accordino- 

 to the depth of the soil it grows in; bulbous at the base, with one joint. Leaves linear, 

 ' acuminated, channeled. Spikets 3, seldom 4-£lowcred, of a green and purple, or of a 

 green, violet, and purple colour, varying. A pedicle knobbed at the end rises from be- 

 twixt the florets. Anthers of a beautiful purplish blue colour, pistil purple. E. Bot. 750; 

 Flo. Ger. 269; Host. t. 8; Flo. Dan. t. 239; Wither. Arr. 



Native of Britain. Perennial. 



Experiments. — At the time of flowering, the produce from a light sandy soil, is, 



dr. 



Grass, 11 oz. The produce per acre 

 80 dr. of grass weigh, when dry 

 The produce of the space, ditto 



qr- 



oz. 



119790 



lbs. 







7486 14 



30 

 66 



44921 4 



The weight lost by the produce of one acre in drying 

 64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 



2807 9 4 

 467P 4 12 



1 2 



4 01 



2807 9 



108900 



54450 



The produce of the space, ditto 



At the time the seed is ripe, the produce is, 

 Grass, 10 oz. The produce per acre 

 80 dr. of grass weigh, when dry 

 The produce of the space, ditto 

 64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 

 The produce of the space, ditto 



The weight lost by the produce of one acre in drying - _ 



The weight of nutritive matter which is lost by leaving the crop till the seed be ripe, is 



175 9 



6806 4 



40 



80 



1 2 



3403 2 



, 3 



3 



2552 5 



159 8 5 



3403 2 

 15 8 4 



For the purposes of pasture, or hay, the above details shew this grass to he comparatively 

 of no value. It is said that goats, horses, and sheep eat it: I have laid it before cows and 

 sheep, but they turned from it : I have observed hares to crop the foliage in the spring. The 

 Rev. G. Swayne, in Withering's Arrangements, informs us, that in the turf moors below Glas- 

 tonsbury, Somersetshire, it grows in great abundance. The country people make of the straws 

 a neat kind of besoms, which they sell to the neighbouring inhabitants, as a cheap and no despi- 

 cable substitute for hair brooms. In Anglesea, it flourishes in the neighbourhood of the copper 

 works of Pary's mountain, while almost every other vegetable, even lichens, are injured or 

 destroyed*. In deep sands, on the confines of peat-bogs, this grass is frequent ; also from sand 

 banks, under hedges enclosing heath soils, it is seldom absent. It grows to the greatest height 



/ 



F 



* Withering's Arrangements. 



