56 BR1TTSH GRASSES. 



Poa nervata — Nerved Meadow Grass. — This is an- 

 other of Sinclair's introductions, being valued by him 

 for its hardy habit, being green and succulent in severe 

 weather, which had nipped the leaves of three hundred 

 other species. The drawback to its desirability is that 

 it vegetates slowly and is long in reaching maturity. 

 This does not prevent it being a valuable ingredient in 

 permanent pasturage. The panicle is large with slender 

 branches, the spikelets are small, green, and smooth, 

 with five florets in each spikelet. The leaves are in two 

 rows, spreading like a fan, and the culm is compressed. 

 It is a native of North America. 



Attempts have been made, during recent years, to in- 

 troduce the Chinese Sugar-cane [Holcus saccharatus) 

 as a fodder grass. It is very valuable as food for horses, 

 sheep, pigs, and cows. The land should be dug or 

 forked deep, and the seed sown in the middle of May. 

 If the season be favourable, three crops may be reaped 

 during the summer, so rapid is its growth. It should 

 be sown in rows eighteen inches apart, half as much 

 space being left between each plant. Four pounds of 

 seed will plant half an acre, and yield three good crops. 

 A dressing of guano and sand should be given at the 

 sowing time. Cattle eat the plants greedily when green. 

 When dried, the culms are found to be full of crystal- 

 line sugar. Any good loamy land is adapted for grow- 

 ing it, and the seed is kept by Messrs. Sutton, of 

 Heading. The first notice we saw of it was in the 

 ' Gardener's Weekly Magazine/ 



In the Orkney Islands, the Tussac Grass of the 

 Falklands, Dactylis ccespitosa, has been successfully in- 

 troduced. It is a noble grass, putting up many culms, 

 which are often branched, and attain a height of from 



