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BRITISH GRASSES. 



ralized in Britain through being cultivated for bird-seed. 

 The chief localities of its cultivation are central and 



northern Europe; and in 

 Britain the county of Kent, 

 and par excellence the Isle 

 of Thanet, are its best homes. 

 It is also grown to a con- 

 siderable extent in the deep 

 strong clay lands of Essex. 

 Mr. Loudon recommends a 

 rich loamy soil for it, well 

 cleaned and in good tilth. 

 The grain is sown in Febru- 

 ary, in drills, six inches be- 

 tween the rows, and the plants 

 thinned out so as to leave no 

 two nearer than two inches. The young plants grow- 

 slowly, and if neglected are soon overtopped by weeds, 

 which the good soil readily produces, so constant and 

 careful weeding is required to ensure the grass fair play. 

 It is a very profitable crop when diligently tended. In 

 its early growth it resembles young wheat or oats, when 

 under good cultivation each head will contain upwards 

 of a hundred seeds, and the empty husks form good food 

 for horses, especially when mixed with other kinds of 

 chaff. The straw is too hard and woody to be of value 

 either as fodder or bedding for cattle. It is often intro- 

 duced in certain districts in the place of the barley crop, 

 after a summer's fallow of the previous year. It is 

 reaped like wheat, and bound in sheaves. It seldom 

 requires harvesting till after the various kinds of corn 

 are housed, for it should be allowed to stand on the 

 ground till the seeds in the topmost heads are ripe. 



