150 



its wild state, and which will equally obtrude themselves 

 on every person who chooses to examine the field I have 

 selected, and hope to see consigned to my operations. 



These, as they originally excited me to make experi- 

 ments, will, I hope, encourage others to follow my ex- 

 ample ; and I am sanguine enough to expect, that in my 

 own country I shall soon hear, the northern face of the 

 WlCKLOW mountains has been encountered, and that my 

 Imperial pupil is trying to call out the spontaneous efforts 

 of Nature on the Julian Alps, 



The first instance that occurred to me, of fiorin grass 

 clothing the surface spontaneoushj, and yielding a rich 

 crop of haj', without any interference of mine, was in the 

 year 1808. 



I had directed that so soon as the new cut turf should 

 be removed from the surface whence they had been taken, 

 that the ground should be laid down with fiorin grass, and 

 also that a contiguous portion of green surface, under 

 which the peat was too shallow fox cutting, should be dug^ 

 and laid down with the rest. 



On my return home late in September, 1 found this 

 latter patch (five or six perches) had not been touched : on 

 inquiring why my orders had not been obeyed, some 

 excuse was made, and I was told there were plenty of 

 natural fiorin roots in the place. 



I had not time to lay down this piece regularly ; so de- 

 termined to ascertain by experiment, what this natural sole 

 would turn to. 



I immediately weeded out coarse weeds, and irrigated the 

 patch regularly : under this process it gave me a magni- 

 ficent crop of pure fiorin in 1809, and another in 1810. 

 The aquatic weeds now were becoming strong, and in 

 1811 abated the luxuriance of the crop ; I therefore 

 abandoned irrigation, drained the patch, and top-di*essed 



