COUCH GBASS. 



193 



under the supposition it was a good grazing grass. It creeps 

 with its vigorous roots rapidly, and though having an abund- 

 ance of foliage, it is too coarse and rough for fodder. Each_, 

 joint will produce a new plant, which, in turn, sends out in 

 every direction new scraggy roots, that reproduce other 

 plants. When young and tender it is eaten by stock, and it 



is a favorite grass with dogs, who 

 eat it to excite vomiting. It is 

 apt to take possession of wheat 

 lands, and is exceedingly trouble- 

 some to get clear of, a single root 

 in the ground serving as a nucleus 

 for a plantatation of them. The 

 only way to get rid of this trouble- 

 some pest, is to gather, dig and 

 burn ; or, if while the land is dry 

 and the weather hot, it is plowed 

 frequently, it may be killed. But 

 to interfere with it during wet 

 weather, by either digging or 

 plowing, is only to assist in its 

 propagation. Its principal growth 

 takes place in autumn, when its 

 roots spread horizontally and 

 obliquely in every direction, and 

 continue to grow rapidly until 

 arrested by cold weather. 



The roots are succulent, and 



are industriously hunted for by 



hogs, who eat them with avidity. 



In some of the poverty-stricken 



countries of Northern Europe, the 



roots are dug, dried and ground 



into meal, which is made into bread by the poorer classes, 



who are thus enabled to sell their wheat to the rich They are 



„also fed, in some locality, to cattle and horses. It belongs to 



13 



