62 CYPERACEZ. 
A rather large and widely spread order of little economic value, not 
including any poisonous plants, and characteristically inhabiting wet, 
marshy, or badly erated soil, or ground which is very wet at some period 
of the year, None of the Cyperacee can be classed as good fodder plants, 
although in times of scarcity starved stock may get a little nourishment 
from their younger shoots. Most species can be kept down by drainage, 
liming, and by loosening the soil of the pasture by harrows or disc cultiva- 
tors. The denser tufted forms need cutting from time to time; this and 
temporarily resting the pasture gives the larger grasses and fodder plants 
a chance to keep them down. Burning off does more harm than good, and 
if frequently repeated causes a steady deterioration of the land. 
A few of the Cypevace@ have so adapted themselves as to become 
troublesome weeds in almost any soil, 2nd one of the worst is the cosmo- 
politan Nut Sedge (‘‘Nut Grass’’), Cyperus rotundus, L., so-called on 
account of its nut-like underground tubers, which render the plant very 
hard to eradicate. ‘ 
Stem six inches to one and a half feet high, from a short, sometimes 
creeping, rhizome, the fibrous roots occasionally forming small tubers. 
Leaves flaccid, much shorter than the stems. Umbel rays not numerous, 
the outer leafy bracts seldom as long as the longest rays. Spikelets, very 
narrow, sharply pointed, varying from one to two and a half lines in 
length, three to eight together, in short spikes at the ends of the rays. 
Glumes numerous, overlapping, a narrow egg-shape, scarcely pointed, red- 
brown, with a green keel and light-coloured edge. Style long, three-cleft. 
Nut much shorter than the glume. The tubers of the allied Cyperus escu- 
lentus contain sufficient starch, oil, and sugar to be of use for food. The 
same applies to a lesser extent to the tubers of C. rotundus, which might 
be of value for pig food. They would, however, not pay to collect for 
this purpose, and pigs roaming freely in pastures usually put on little 
flesh, and often do much damage. Though not a good fodder plant, 
stock (horses and cattle) will eat it to some extent, especially when young. 
When fruiting, it is usually neglected, and even if the small, nut-like 
seeds are swallowed, they pass through mostly undigested, and germinate 
readily on the ground, thus spreading the evil. As in the case of most 
weeds, it is the seed which carry the plant from place to place, the 
tubers merely maintain it where it is once established, and only spread it 
very slowly. 
The same modes of eradication apply to this plant as to the true 
Couch Grass (Agropyrum repens), discussed beneath, the only difference 
being that the tubers of the Nut Sedge are more easily left behind in the 
soil, so that, to avoid this, pigs might be allowed to root over penned 
portions of the field, after ploughing, harrowing, and raking the rhizomes 
and tubers together in heaps. They would then be more likely to put on 
plenty of flesh than if roaming freely and rooting for the tubers. 
If the land is not to be ploughed, repeated cutting prevents seeding 
and exhausts the tubers, but to complete the exhaustion a close, leafy crop 
is necessary, which involves ploughing. Winter treatment is useless; the 
plant must be attacked during the growing period, and a bare fallow with 
the ground kept well stirred tn summer, or as soon as rain has brought 
up fresh shoots or seedlings, has a wonderful cleansing effect. ‘The plant 
is native to Victoria, and is a cosmopolitan, spread over the whole of the 
warm and temperate regions of the globe. It is a troublesome weed in 
both India and the United States. 
Proclaimed for the whole State. a 
Records of Cyperace@ poisoning stock are not wanting (Schenus apoton, 
Gahnia, &c.), but the evidence is wholly untrustworthy, although a 
mechanical irritation or binding of the alimentary canal is quite possible 
