ON VEGETATION. 
241 
their superior growth ; while bare patches in other 
places told us of aridity and failure : the meadow grass 
(poa) and ray grass (lolium perenne) were great suffer- 
ers ; the dog’s tail (cynosurus) supported itself better ; 
the cock-foot (dactylis), though not killed, was so much 
hurt, that its ensuing vegetation, instead of the coarse 
luxuriance it generally manifests, was dry, hard, and 
deficient in succulency, or, as our laborers emphatically 
say, was “ stunned ; ” and bent-grass (agrostis vulgaris), 
that certain indicator of a dry soil, appeared more than 
it commonly does. But this destruction of the roots in 
very many places was not obvious, the turf, as it was, 
remaining yet some injury was apparent in the suc- 
ceeding summer and autumn. The crop cut for hay 
was unusually abundant, and seemed to have exhausted 
the roots by its growth, as no after-grass sprang up; nor 
did the pastures which were fed afford more than a dry, 
hard, yellow provender, looking tanned, as if seared by 
severe frost; and in September, when in general we 
expect our fields to yield an abundance of grass, as food 
for months, they presented commonly the aspect of 
hard-fed lands in March, though so much rain had 
fallen, both in July and August, as to lead us to expect 
profusion. It did not appear that the roots had actually 
perished ; which could not have been the case, by pro- 
ducing the mowing crops that they did ; but this was a 
single effort : the injury was manifested by the defi- 
ciency of the autumnal vigor ; this was the actual re- 
sult, difficult as it is to assign a satisfactory reason. 
Perhaps these effects upon our pasture lands were un- 
precedented : but these things pass away, unless re- 
corded ; and though we may resort to the oldest memory 
for evidence, yet memory is oblivious, often exaggerative, 
and cannot safely be trusted. 
June and July, 1825. — The quantity of that sweet 
clammy fluid, which we find upon certain leaves, and 
commonly call “ honey-dew,” was more than usually 
abundant during these months. In the day-time, bees, 
wasps, and tribes of flies collected to feed upon it, and 
in the evenings, moths and insects of the night fre- 
quented the fruit-trees on our walls, particularly the 
V 
