274 
in  English  lawns,  binding  it  well  together  and  making  a soft  carpet, 
'foo  much  of  these  (dovers  however,  makes  the  turf  too  soft,  es- 
pecially in  damp  spots. 
(jardeners  not  rarely  send  to  various  horticultural  establishments 
for  grass-seed  to  plant  on  their  lawns,  but  the  attempt  to  raise, 
turf  from  sown  seed,  here  invariably  results  in  the  greatest  disap- 
pointment. It  would  hardly  seem  necessary  to  inform  gardeners  that 
the  best  English  grass  seed  supplied  by  seedsmen  at  home  is  utter- 
ly useless  out  here,  Imt  one  hears  so  often  of  residents  sending 
home  for  grass-seed  that  it  is  perhaps  as  well  to  call  their  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  the  grasses  of  temperate  climates  will  grow  no 
better  in  the  Straits,  than  our  palms  will  in  England.  The  greatest 
difficulty  in  raising  grass  from  seed,  here  lies  in  ihe  fact  that  there 
are  abundance  of  seed  eating  ants  which  on  finding  a quantity  of 
grass  seed  as  laid  down  by  a gardener,  come  in  swarms  and  carry 
off  all  the  seed  to  their  nests  where  they  eat  it.  The  grass  linches 
(Mnnia)  also  destroy  a quantity. 
The  most  important  grasses  for  turfing  are  tliose  with  a prostrate 
creeping  stem;  grasses  which  merely  form  tufts  are  of  very  little 
use,  as  it  takes  a long  time  for  them  to  cover  the  ground.  As  far 
as  I know  we  have  no  annual  grasses  here,  unless  it  be  Dimeria 
ornithopodioides  a slender  grass  which  at  certain  times  of  the  year 
appears  in  considerable  quantities  in  many  places  and  then  dis- 
appears again.  But  we  have  a good  many  tufted  grasses  and  small 
sedges  [Fhnbristylis  and  Scleria)  which  fill  up  spaces  in  turf  and 
are  useful  in  that  way,  but  do  not  make  turf  themselves. 
The  following  grasses  are  the  most  useful  we  have  for  turfing: — 
Ischcemum  ciliare — This  is  a good  running  grass  with  hairy 
lanceolate  leaves  about  an  inch  or  two  long.  The  inflorescence  is 
a pair  of  spikes  rather  thick  about  an  inch  long,  [lurplish  and  hairy, 
borne  on  the  end  of  a slender  stem  about  6 inches  long:  the  seed  is 
often  destroyed  by  a bunt  fungus  giving  the  spikes  a sooty  ap- 
pearance. It  is  a very  common  road-side  grass,  creeps  fast,  and 
quickly  forms  a good  turf  mat:  under  good  circumstances  it  will 
even  smother  Lalang,  and  is  very  suitable  for  covering  clayey  ground 
rapidly.  It  makes  very  good  fodder  when  grown  in  damp  ground. 
Ischoemum  muticum — is  a glabrous  grass,  with  rather  broad  leaves 
.one  to  5 inches  long,  easily  known  by  its  pair  of  white  spikes,  so 
closely  pressed  together  that  they  appear  one  : the  white  colour  of 
the  spikes  is  chiefly  due  to  the  large  white  plumed  stigmas  A very 
fast  grower,  covering  ground  rapidly  with  its  very  long  creeping 
stems  often  i2  or  14  feet  or  more  in  length.  I'hough  the  leaves  are 
rather  stiff  and  broad  for  the  fine  grass  required  for  tennis  lawns, 
this  grass  is  perhaps  the  very  best  for  covering  clay  banks  or  open 
clay  spaces  such  as  one  often  gets  after  c leaning  a lalang  field, 
like  the  last  it  can  over  grow  lalang.  For  stiff  steep  clay  banks  such 
as  railways  banks,  this  is  undoubtedly  the  best  grass  to  employ  : if 
planted  at  the  top  of  the  bank  the  long  creeping  stems  will  run 
down  the  bank  holding  the  clay  and  eventually  forming  a com[)act 
