HOCKIXGS' GARDEN MANUAL. 



165 



cum, Italian rye-grass. Grasses, as a general rule, 

 possessed no poisonous qualities ; but there was one 

 species, the olium temulentum, that was, unfortunately, 

 becoming very common here. The kangaroo grass of 

 this colony was fast disappearing. In the northern 

 districts (Jynodon dactylon had followed in the steps of 

 man. So valuable had this grass been found in More- 

 ton Bay, that a friend had written to him to say that 

 now, " instead of having to enclose a hundred-acre 

 paddock for horses, a small paddock of four acres 

 sown with this grass has been found sufficient to pro- 

 vide feed for half-a-dozen horses." 



The prairie grass is now highly valued in the 

 adjoining colonies, and the more it is known the better 

 it is appreciated. It requires a deep rich soil, pre- 

 pared as for oats. If sown alone, twenty pounds of 

 seed per acre will be sufficient ; but to make a thorough 

 good bottom, about three pounds of cow-grass (per- 

 ennial red clover), three pounds of perennial rye-grass, 

 with fifteen pounds of prairie grass, will be required. 

 It produces a great quantity of seed, which it sheds 

 very freely j and the quantity of fodder produced per 

 acre is almost incredible. Its feeding and fattening 

 capabilies are veiy great, and if the crop is cut green, 

 it will yield four to six good cuttings in suitable soil. It 

 is rapidly spreading in some parts of the Darling Downs, 

 the flooded water-courses floating the seed away, and 

 distributing it in every direction. 



LUCERNE. 



The soiljfor lucerne should be deep, ric h, and friable, 

 with a porous subsoil, in which no water could stand 

 in the wettest seasons ; it should be free from weeds 

 and weed seed, and thoroughly pulverised. These 

 being all necessary conditions to success, and the 

 absence of one or other of them being the cause of 



