37 



to possess " merits well worthy of attention, if the natural place of 

 growth and its habits be impartially taken into consideration ; " but 

 that these merits are perhaps not so great as has been supposed. 



The following summary concerning the agricultural use of A. 

 alba appears in the second edition of 'English Botany/ The 

 value of all the varieties depends upon the creeping stems, which 

 afford a heavy crop of hay late in the year, and also supply leaves 

 for early feeding. That variety found on old rich pastures (the 

 Fiorin) is by far the best, being altogether of larger growth. To 

 make this thrive, a regular supply of manure upon a moist stiff 

 soil is required, while some of the other varieties do best upon 

 sandy ground. Mr. Sinclai^ recommends the Fiorin to be mixed 

 with other grasses, to prevent its stems being trodden into the 

 ground by cattle, that they may form part of the crop, which is 

 most productive in December. 



As is the case with plants generally which propagate themselves 

 abundantly by lateral extension, the Fiorin produces little seed; 

 hence, those who are desirous of cultivating it, will succeed best by 

 planting cuttings of the creeping stems in drills an inch deep, and 

 ■slightly covering them with soil. 



The creeping stems, runners, or stolones of this Agrostis and 

 many other grasses of similar habit are highly nutritive; and in 

 Italy and the south of France the poor people collect them by the 

 roadsides and elsewhere, binding them in small bundles, which 

 they carry to market for sale as food for horses. This is a fact 

 deserving our consideration while endeavouring to arrive at a just 

 appreciation of th,e agricultural capabilities of the Marsh or Creep- 

 ing Bent Grass, because it affords positive evidence in favour of its 

 foodful qualities when growing naturally. But, unfortunately, 

 practical men are too prone to overlook natural adaptation, and 

 expect more than is consistent with the general laws of organiza- 

 tion. The Orcheston Long Grass and the Fiorin of Nature's own 

 planting flourished in the rich, well-watered, and retentive soil of 

 the permanent pasture, to the production of an almost miraculous 

 amount of fodder ; but it is surely unreasonable to suppose that, 

 in the absence of such conditions, and especially under the rotation 

 system at present followed, any parallel success can attend the 

 cultivation of the species. The Creeping Bent may be a useless 

 weed, wiry, nearly leafless, and unpalatable to cattle, or succulent, 

 abundant in foliage, and as grateful to them as it is productive ; 

 some of the richest cow-pasture, below the embankments of the 

 Lea, near London, consisted almost entirely of this grass and Poa 

 trivialis : see our plate 64 ; but it was intersected by ditches, into 

 which the water of the river was repeatedly admitted by sluices 

 during dry weather. 



