Famous Ancient Pastures of England. 757 
but the chief bents, or seeding heads, belonged to this grass ; 
and of course the long sharp awns with which the head is so 
abundantly furnished prevented the stock from touching it when 
it had reached this stage. In its earlier life, it produces a con- 
siderable quantity of foliage, and cannot be ungrateful to stock, 
for sheep and cattle prosper on pastures in which it abounds, not 
only at Pawlett Haras, but in other districts of the country. 
Table II. — Predominant Grass — Squirrel Tail. 
No. 
Pasture 
Cocksfoot 
Meadow fescue 
X 
o 
| Timothy 
=£ I 
? i 
3 z 
d 
S 
e8 
o 
> 
g 
p? 
a 
o 
Ph 
1 Hard fescue | 
'& 
O 
P 
| Tall oat-grass 
Sweet vernal 
Squirrel-tail 
Hassock-grass 
Brome-grass 
Yorkshire fog 
Clover 
Yarrow | 
e9 
So 
16 
Pawlett Hams 
A J— 
A, 
» 
A 
r, predomiuaut. A, abundant. C, common. 
Here the power of the pasture to carry an exceptionally large 
quantity of stock is no doubt due to the rich and well-watered 
soil, which supports a vigorous vegetation. The nutritive value 
of the grass depends upon the quantity of protoplasm and starch 
present in the tissues ; and the quantity of these food-sub- 
stances depends on the quality of the soil. The best grass on 
a poor soil, struggling for its own life and scarcely able to lay 
up starch for its seeds, is of small feeding value compared with 
the same grass grown on a rich soil. The difference between 
the feeding value of the two grasses is something like the dif- 
ference in the feeding value of a lean bullock and the same 
bullock after it has been fed and fattened for the butcher. Even 
the poorer grasses on a rich soil will provide better food than 
the best grasses on poor soil. But how much more valuable 
would these rich lands be, if the herbage were of a better quality ; 
if, instead of squirrel-tail, dogstail, and rye-grass, Pawlett 
Hams were covered with fescues, foxtail, and meadow- 
grasses ? 
3. Pastures in which YorTcsJure Fog and Fiorin predominate. 
These meadows, on rich loamy soils, do not supply the 
amount of food that they are capable of, because of the quality 
of the herbage upon them. The poverty of the pasture is 
greatly modified by the presence of so large a quantity of 
fiorin, and by a varying proportion of other grasses and of 
clovers. ' 
