70 PRACTICAL NOTES ON GRASSES AND GRASS GROWING, 
the marshes near the river where the sub-soil of alluvial clay 
abounds, and wice versé. In one case within our recollection 
we adopted this experiment of moulding a marsh near the 
river with the peaty excavations of some dykes which we cut 
from a bog under the upland, folding sheep on it, and, 
afterwards renovating with seeds; in one season the value of 
the land was doubled. The first sign of improvement in 
reclaiming bogs and swamps will be the disappearance of the 
black rush (Schenus nigricans) and the appearance of the 
tussock rush (Caren paniculata). 
Botanists assert that tussock rushes, which are common 
enough with us, prefer spongy bogs to better-drained marshes ; 
but, with due respect, we venture to differ from them, 
because, although their presence is common enough upon the 
edges and drier parts of spongy bogs, our experience leads 
us to believe that these rushes require good land, which 
has been partially drained, and where the ordinary bog 
rush does not thrive so well. This opinion is confirmed by 
the fact that, as soon as the bogs are improved and the 
drainage is got on with, the tussock rush appears. A similar 
experience will be met with when a moist pasture has been 
neglected and its drains allowed to grow up. ‘The tussock 
grass, therefore, becomes, if we may so express it, both the 
harbinger of good and of evil. Weare glad to see it on the 
lands we are reclaiming, but we regret its reappearance on the 
lands we have reclaimed, which, by reason of our negligence 
or our want of means, have been neglected. For the removak 
of tussock grass the mattock must be freely handled; its 
presence denotes insufficient drainage and a surplus of water. 
The sedges and rushes common to swamps forms such a 
numerous family, and are so closely allied, that it would be 
injudicious on our part to attempt to deal with them 
individually. To give an example, we refer to the grasses 
(Graminee) and the sedges (Cyferacee), which differ from 
