26 stable Management and the Prevention of Disease 



If, for instance, the land produces about equal quantities 

 of spear grass and janowa, as the former is inferior to the 

 latter and also ripens earlier, it is well to wait until it has 

 begun to run to seed, by which time the janowa will be in 

 full bloom. 



There may of course be now and then a year, as in England, 

 when rain will last so long that the grass after being cut will 

 have a great deal of its sap washed out before it can be 

 stacked ; but even then it will certainly be no worse than that 

 which is now made into stacks, as above described, from the 

 extra quantity daily brought in by the grass-cutters. 



OXALIS. 



In some parts of India a plant called by the grass-cutters 

 wild lucerne grows in great quantities, and is brought in by 

 them as part of the grass ration. At first sight it looks like 

 a small kind of clover ; but, on closer examination, it will be 

 found to resemble almost exactly the English oxalis, to which 

 it is, I believe, closely allied. The horses will not eat it if 

 they have enough grass, and it should not be admitted as 

 part of the ration. It does not appear to be in any way 

 mischievous. 



Dhub. 



The most common grass throughout India, and fortunately 

 one of the best for forage, is the Cynodon dactylon, called 

 dhub in the Bengal Presidency, and hariali in Madras. It 

 flourishes at all altitudes, from a few feet above the sea-level 

 to 3,000 or 4,000 feet ; but at the last height it is, so far as I 

 have seen, only found in sheltered valleys. 



Where there is a little moisture in the earth it grows and 

 blossoms at all seasons of the year, except when there is 

 actual frost at night in the depth of the cold weather. 



In dry districts it runs along the surface of the ground, 

 sending down a bunch of roots like a strawberry at intervals 

 of a few inches. If on rich soil it grows during the rains in 

 a luxuriant mass to a height of eight or ten inches, and can 

 be made into hay. In districts like that of Lower Bengal, 



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