GRASS. 



Turf ^. — Poa trivialij, alopfcurus pratenfis, agroftis pa- 

 luftris, avena elatior, triticum repens. 



This experiment proves, in a great degree at leafl, what 

 be long before fuipected, that the extraordinary fertility of 

 this meadow arofc not from any new grafs peculiar to it, 

 but from fevcral unufual circumftances concurring and 

 favouring in an uncommon degree the growth of certain 

 well-known grafTes, efpecially the poa trivialis and agroilis 

 paluftris ; confequently, in the forming and improving of 

 grafs-lands, the moll certain plan will be to cultivate the 

 feeds of fuch gralTcs as may be mod adapted to them, and 

 afterwards fow them at proper feafons upon the lauds, when 

 they have been put into a fuitable condition for their recep- 

 tion. 



The direftions given are, that if a piece of ground can 

 be had that is neither very moiii nor very dry, it will anfwer 



for all the feeds ; they may then be fown on one fpot : but praUnfis, or mcadow-fefcue grafs ; and the cytwfunis criflalus, 

 if fuch a piece cannot be obtained, they mail be fown on or crefted dog's-tail grafs ; of which reprefcntations may 

 feparate fpots, according to their relpeftive qualities, no be feen at j^j, I, 2, 3, m Plate, Crops, Agriculliire, and 

 matter whether in a garden, a nurfery, or a field, provided Jigs. I, 2, 3, in Plate Grajfis ; but more full accounts of them 

 it be well fecured and clean. Dig up the ground, level, may be found by referring to their different botanical titles. 



which be was far from being the only one that entertaincii 

 the fanguine hopes of its proving a great national advantage. 

 The gniffeshe has recornmended will, he is confident, do all 

 that our natural graffes can do : they are iix of thofe which 

 conftitute the bulk of our bell paftures ; molt of them ar» 

 early, all of them are produftive, and they are adapted to 

 fuch foils and fituations as are proper for meadows and 

 paftures. But, let no one expeft them to perform wonders j 

 for after all they are but graffes, and as fuch are liable to 

 produce great or fmall crops, according to particular feaions, 

 or to the fertility or barrenneis of the loil on which they are 

 fown and cultivated. 



This lift comprehends the anihoxaiithum oiloratum, or fweet- 

 fcented vernal-grafs ; the ahpccurus pratetifis, or meadow fox- 

 tail grafs; ihi poa prateiifs, or fmooth-ilalked meadow grafs; 

 the/ioa trivialis, or rough-ftalkcd meadow grafs ; ihefejlma 



and rake it ; then fow each kind of feeds thinly in a feparate 

 row, each row nine or twelve inches apart, and cover them 

 over lightly with the earth ; the latter end of Auguft or 

 beginning of September will be the molt proper time for 

 this buhnefs. If the weather be not uncommonly dry, the 

 feeds will quickly vegetate ; and the only attention they will 

 require will be to be carefully weeded : in about a fortnight 

 from their coming up, fuch of the plants as grow thickly 

 together may be thinned, and thofe which are taken up 

 tranfplanted, fo as to make more rows of the fame grafs. 

 If the winter fhould be very fevere, though natives, as leed- 

 lings, they may receive injury ; therefore it will not be amifs 

 to protect them with mats, fern, or by fome other contriv- 

 ance. Advantage fhould alfo be taken of the firft dry 

 weather in the fpring, to roll or tread them down, in order 

 to faften their roots in the earlh, v.'hich the froit generally 

 loofens ; care muft ilill be taken to keep them perfeftly clear 

 from weeds. As the fpring advances, many of them will 

 tjirow up their flowering items, and fome of them will con- 

 tinue to do fo all the fumm.er. As the feed in each fpike or 

 panicle ripens, it muft be very carefully gathered, and fown 

 in tiie autumn, at which time the roots of the original plants, 

 which will now bear feparating, fliould be divided and trani- 

 plawted, fo as to form more rows : the roots of the fmoolh- 

 Jlalked meadow-grafs in particular, creeping like couch- 

 grafs, may readily be increafed in this way ; and thus, by 

 degrees, a large plantation of thefe graffes may be formed, 

 and much feed colleiSled for theaife of the agricultor. But 

 a more ready way, according to a late writer, is, for the 

 farmer to notice that fpecies of grafs moft affefted by his 

 foil, and carefully to gather the feed from a piece of old 

 meadovv', purpofely left three or four weeks longer than 

 common, or at leaft long enough to become fufHcicntly ripe. 

 He fhould not fcruple the trouble of felefting the heads as 

 they lie in the fwath ; but they who deiire not to be fo par- 

 ticular, will threfli out the feed together, cither in the licld 

 cr before it fhall have heated in the mow. And good feeds 

 of different forts of gi-affes may now alfo be procured from 

 different feedsmen in large towns and other places ; but the 

 collection fold under the title of hny-feeds ihould never be 

 trulted to in any refpeft. Mr. Curtis, from the numerous 

 applications that were made to him by gentlemen for grafs- 

 feeds, was induced to felect fuch as appeared to him the 

 moft ufeful, and thereby rendered the public an elfential 

 fervice. He wiflied at lealt to put it in their power to 

 decide on a matter which kad been long agitated, and ijrom 



in different parts of the work. 



But of the above grafles, the meadow fox-tail and rouo-h» 

 ftalked meadow grafs are iitteft for moift land; the meadow- 

 fefcue, or fiveet-fcented vernal, are the moft proper for 

 land either moift or moderately dry ; and the fmooth-ftalked 

 meadow-grafs and crefted dog's-tail are thofe that £.re bell 

 fuited for dry paftures and other Cmilar lands. 



It is, however, fuppofed, that in the more fouthern parts 

 of the kingdom we may in vain expetl to clothe dry foils 

 with the conftant verdure of graffes; they will not itand the 

 drouglit of hot parching fummers: in fuch feafons, they are 

 only plants which fend down roots to a great depth that 

 can be expefled to look green or be productive, as the lotus 

 cvmiculatiis, medicago falcata, and fome others. 



The order of flovsering in the above graffes is: 1. Swcet- 

 fcented vernal. 2. Meadow fox-tail. 3. Smooth-ftalked 

 meadow. 4. Rough-llalked meadow. 5, Meadow-fefcue. 

 6. Crefted dog's-tail. 



It is obferved that many more graffes m.ight be added to 

 this lift, and thofe too which perhaps might be highly de- 

 ferving of it; but he has his doubts, whether by recom- 

 mending more he might not increafe the difficulty of intro- 

 ducing grafs-feeds without any adequate advantage in re- 

 turn. 



But befides thefe, the fcjluca ovina, or flieep's-fefcue 

 grafs; \\xe fefluca duriiijcula , or hard-feicue grafs; i\\t poa 

 ceinprijfa, or flat-meadow grafs ; the poa palujlris, or marfii- 

 meadow grafs; the phleum iwdifum, or knot-grafs; and the 

 lolium pereime, or rye-grafs, which is an ufeful grafs in many 

 cafes; may all be employed with advantage. They may 

 be feen ?itjigs. 1, 2, 3, in PLitc Grrjfvs, and mJ^s. 1, 2, 3, 

 in Plait- Grajfds. 



And in the fecond volume of his Eifays on Rural Affairs, 

 Dr. Anderfon has likewife given defcriptions of many others, 

 which, he conceives, may be beneficially employed in form- 

 ing grafs-lands, fuch as the alopccunis lulhofus, or bulbous 

 fox-tail grafs; the fejluca rulra, or purple fefcue-grafs ; 

 the holcus mollis, or creeping foft grafs ; the pltmtago anguf- 

 tifolia and tcnuifoUa, or narrow-leaved and fmall grafs-leaved 

 plantain or rib-grafs; and the poa procumlsus, or creeping- 

 meadow grafs. 



In a valuable " Effay on the Converflon of Grafs-Land 



into Tillage,'' inferted in the Communications to the Board 



of Agriculture, vol. iii. part i. the following detail of 



feveral plants of the grafs kind is.given, with the foils they 



4 art 



