54 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH GRASSES. 
“proof” in it of that of the good sound meadow—a circum- 
stance which may, no doubt, in part be attributed to the 
quantity of water it contains, as shown by Mr. Way, in his 
Fourth Report on the Analysis of the Ashes of Plauts, 
to which we have been greatly indebted for some valuable 
information, and from which we extract the following table, 
showing the percentage of water in three species of Poa 
compared with Phleum pratense. 
Grass. Date of Water Nature of soil. 
Collection. | per Cent. 
Poa annua vs... May 28 79.14 Loam, with gravelly subsoil, 
3 pratensis ....| June 11 67.14 Dry calcareous loam, 
» trivialis....| June 18 73.60 Calcareous loam. 
Phiewm pratensis .| July 11 57.21 Ditto. 
From this, no less than long observations of its history 
and general characteristics, we should feel disposed to rank 
Poa trivialis as a very inferior grass to Poa pratensis, hold- 
ing indeed, as far as the value of its hay and herbage is 
concerned, an intermediate position between the latter and 
Poa annua. Asaweed, the Poa trivialis is often exceed- 
ingly annoying, especially on poor damp clays. We have 
seen it in some of the stretches of the fuller’s-earth, choking 
even the scanty crop of grain which this stratum will grow 
when ill drained or otherwise unmitigated: it is however 
easily got rid of by thorough-draining, and letting light and 
air into this stubborn soil. 
3. Poa pratensis —smooth-stalked meadow grass — is 
very constant in pastures, and especially in those of the 
best quality ; it yields a good bulk for the rick, and sends 
up a quantity of herbage for the aftermath, which is less 
injured by cold and other climatal changes than almost any 
other species; its range is very wide, being found on dry 
uplands, in deep loams, and in both flooded and irrigated 
meadows, and should always be largely intermixed with 
seeds in the laying down of permanent pasture. Thus it 
will be seen that our experience of this species is quite at 
yariance with that of the Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis, 
