On the Tussac Grass. 
75 
the horses, from preferring the root, do more mischief than the 
cattle. I have no data to say decidedly how many animals one 
man could cut food for in a day, and to attempt to do so might 
only mislead your Lordship. 
I ought to mention that the plant is of slow growth, and would 
probably be three years in coming to perfection, during which pe- 
riod, however, it might be cut annually with advantage. When 
once full grown, it springs up rapidly after being cut down, the 
blades reaching their full height of 7 feet by the end of summer. 
though cut down in the spring. I kept up a favourite horse in a 
loose box one winter, and had him fed entirely on Tussac, cut for 
him and given green. He ate it greedily, and was always in ex- 
cellent condition ; but as a general rule, I should consider it soft 
food for a horse doing any work. 
When it is remembered that this invaluable provision of nature 
thrives luxuriantly where scarcely any other vegetation will exist — 
that it is most nutritious, and much relished by cattle, it is impos- 
sible to resist feeling the most earnest desire to see it extensively 
tried in those portions of the United Kingdom which in climate 
and soil bear some resemblance to the Falkland Islands. I might 
