^80 



Will d 



cr 



eepmg. 



Poa decumbens. Decumbent Meadow-grass. Engl. Bot. 792. 



* F 



Festuca decumbens. Decumbent Fescue. Flo. Dan. 162; 



Specific character : Panicle simple^ contracted, few-flowered; spikets oval-oblong 

 calyx nearly equal to the florets ; sheaths of the leaves hairy; root somewhat 



Obs. — Culms decumbent-, from ten to eighteen inches long; root-leaves flat hairv o il 

 per surface, especially at the base ; stem-leaves shorter; sheaths villose towards th 

 little compressed, striated; the place of the sheath-scale is supplied, with a row of sho t 

 hairs; panicle very simple, little branches alternate, simple, shortest one-flowered the 

 longest one two-flowered ; flowers from three to four, the terminating one always sterile 

 Flo. Ger. ; Leers, &c. 



Native of Britain. Root perennial. 



Experiments. — At the time of flowering, the produce from a clayey loam, is. 



top, a 



Grass, 8 oz. The produce per acre 



64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 



The produce of the space, ditto 



The produce of latter-math, is 

 Grass, 5 oz. The produce per acre 

 64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 

 The produce of the space, ditto 



dr. qr. 



1 2 7 



3 3 



oz. lbs. 



S7120 = 5445 



2041 14 



127 9 14 



54450 



3403 2 



1 1 



1 2i 



;063 7 



66 7 "^ 



i 



It is chiefly confined to high wet barren pastures, though sometimes found in those that are 

 dry. On some particular spots among the trees in Woburn-parh, it is found growing in com- 

 pany with the Carex axillaris. It appears to be but little susceptible of improvement by being 

 transplanted to a richer soil; as the produce, from a rich black loam, scarcely exceeded the above 

 stated produce, from a clayey loam, without any manure. It never appeared to be cropped by 

 the deer in the park. It is late in the production of foliage in the spring, and produces little 

 after-grass : it is not, therefore, to be recommended for cultivation. 



r 



^ r 



It flowers about the third and fourth weeks of July, and the seed is ripe in the middle and 

 towards the latter end of August, according as the soil and season are favourable to its growth. 



iV 



\\\ 



I 



From the above details it is evident, that if we except one, or at most two species of grass, 

 the whole natural produce of bogs, and low-lying stagnant meadows, is of little or no value to 

 the possessors. Such lands, however, by the simple process of forming them into water-meadows, 

 have had their original value, which is, generally, from one to five shillings, increased to forty, 

 and frequently to sixty shillings, per acre. From the magnitude, and the short space of time m 

 which the rise in the value of land is thus permanently effected, the conversion of waste bogs 

 to irrigated meadows, may justly be ranked with the very first improvements in this branch of 

 practical agriculture; and were it not from the local nature of the lands in question, when it is 

 considered that in numerous instances, with a spade only, the process may be begun and finished, 

 it may justly perhaps maintain a claim for the first place in improvements of modern Agriculture, 



