37 



you, together with a copy of the despatch from Colonel Reid, late 

 Governor in-Chief of the Windward Islands, in which the valuable 

 qualities of this grass are described. Lord Grey requests that you will 

 have the goodness to take charge of these roots and seeds, and to cause 

 them to be prepared for transmission to the different Australian Colonies, 

 to the Cape of Good Hope, and to the Mauritius. 



" I am also to transmit to you a case containing some slips of this 

 grass, which has been forwarded to Lord Grey from the Caracas. His 

 Lordship would be glad to be furnished with any suggestions which may 

 occur to you as to the best mode of proceeding in order to introduce 

 these seeds and plants into those colonies for which they are best fitted 

 — I have, &c, (Signed) B. Hawes " 



The correspondence in regard to the introduction of Para grass to 

 Barbados is given by Dr. Lindley in the Joum. Roy. Hort. Soc, iv. 

 (1847) p. 148. Adapting the name given to the grass in Curacoa, 

 Dr. Lindley called it Panicum jumentorum, thus confusing it with 

 Guinea grass. 



Further supplies of Para grass were received at Kew in six Wardian 

 cases, shipped from Caracas by Her Majesty's Consul, Mr. J. Riddel. 

 From these plants distribution was made (with full directions for culti- 

 vation) to various colonies in the eastern hemisphere, including New 

 South Wales, Western Australia, Ascension, &c. In the first reports it 

 was stated that Para grass was capable of resisting drought. This was 

 shown by Mr. Riddel to be an error. It evidently prefers and, indeed, 

 will only flourish in localities where it has abundant moisture. It is 

 interesting to note that this distribution of Para grass from Kew by 

 Sir William Hooker was one of the early operations undertaken by him 

 to assist industries in the colonies. Such operations, since that time, 

 have been consistently carried on for nearly 50 years. 



The following extract from the report of the Government Experi- 

 mental Farm, Poona, for the year ending March 31, 1894 (p. 5), gives 

 the results of the experimental cultivation in India : — 



" Mauritius Water Grass or Buffalo Grass. — This is the chief fodder 

 grass of Ceylon. There it remains green all the year round, and is 

 employed largely for feeding milk cattle. A few roots were obtained 

 from the School of a griculture Farm, Colombo. The plant can be 

 propagated either from the roots or from the stoloniferous stems which 

 grow out laterally along the ground, and root at every node. From 

 these rooted nodes straight shoots spring up. When ready to cut, the 

 grass is very thick, and stands about lb inches high. Cattle like it, 

 but it grows slower than Guinea grass, and does not give the same 

 out-turn. It has this advantage, it thrives well in a damp, even a wet, 

 situation. The best method of propagating is to cut the long lateral 

 stems into short lengths. Broadcast these sparingly over the surface, 

 and cover lightly with soil. The plot on the farm since it has become 

 fully established has been cut twice, at an interval of 87 days. The 

 yields of green fodder were : — 



Yields per Acre. 

 1st cutting ... 10,7001bs. 



2nd cutting ... 18,020 " 



14. Panicum spectabile y Nees, — A valuable fodder plant long established 



