Other Small Grasses. l05 



last on the table, with a productive power as low as 40. 

 It grows and thrives on mountain pasture, and is 

 valuable in lawn mixtures, but is never included in 

 mixtures for laying down any kind of pasture. 



Poa nervata (nerved meadow grass). — This grass 

 cannot be obtained from seedsmen in this country, and 

 I had some difficulty in procuring seeds from North 

 America. .From these I grew a certain number of 

 plants, some of which are growing here now. I have 

 not paid much attention to this grass ; but Sinclair 

 evidently did, as he says that it is a remarkably hardy 

 grass, and that " it possesses very valuable properties, 

 and will be found a valuable ingredient in permanent 

 pastures, where the soil is not too dry, but of a medium 

 quality as to moisture and dryness." With reference to 

 its hardiness, the writer said that "in February 17, 1814, 

 after the severe winter preceding, this species of Poa 

 was perfectly green and succulent, while not one species 

 of grass, out of nearly 300 different species that grew 

 around it, remained in a healthy state, but were all 

 inferior, and more or less injured by the severity of the 

 weather." I have elsewhere dwelt upon the obvious 

 advantages of confining our attention as much as 

 possible to the cultivation of the most hardy grasses, 

 which, of course, are much safer for the farmer than the 

 less robust kinds, and I hope that the mention I have 

 made of the matter may induce seedsmen, and others 

 interested in this important subject, to devote some 

 attention to Poa nervata. 



Clovers require no detailed notice here. In Appendix 

 II. some remarks on them, contributed by Mr. James 

 Hunter, will be found. 



I now proceed to remark, lastly, on various plants 

 which may be usefully added to grass and clover 

 mixtures. 



Chicory and burnet, having been fully treated in 

 what I have written previously (vide Chapter VI.) 

 require no notice here. 



