10-4 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
modest beauty rather than by their brilliancy. 
Certain plants are found growing naturally 
only upon rocks, where their foliage can spread 
itself to the sun, while their roots run 
down through the earth-filled crevices 
of the rocks into the deep, cool soil v 
far below. This is particularly the case 
with plants growing in alpine regions, and 
such can only be cultivated with success 
where the natural conditions are ob- 
served. Other plants seem to flourish better 
among loose stones, which probably act as a 
mulch. What are called "Alpine Plants" 
are now becoming popular in England, 
though we must confess that the term 
"Alpine" is made to include a great number 
of things that have no mountain origin. 
We have already noticed Mr. Robin- 
son's work, "Alpine Flowers for British 
Gardens ;" a reference to its list of plants 
will show that the term "Alpine" is used 
in a very comprehensive sense. In the 
work referred to the author gives several 
illustrations of artificial rock-work, some of 
which we borrow. The artificial rock-work 
should not be built up like a stone-wall, 
as in figure 1 ; but the stones should be 
placed so as to appear as if they belonged 
there, as in figure 2. Whatever crevices 
are left for the accommodation of plants — 
and there should be a sufficiency of these — 
should be continuous until they reach 
the earth. In cases where elevated masses 
of rock-work are built up, the same pre- 
caution of keeping open a communication 
with the earth below is to be observed. 
Figure 3 gives a work of this kind pro- 
perly constructed, and figure 4 a bad ex- 
ample. In figure 3 the plants in each fissure 
have a chance to be benefited by the rains, 
while in figure 4 the upper rocks com- 
pletely shelter the lower ones. Of course a 
rock-work can be made of any dimensions, 
according to the means and tastes of the 
builder ; but fortunately it is not necessary 
to work on a large scale, as a small rocky 
bed may be made with little trouble and 
expense, which will grow alpine plants in a 
very satisfactory manner. A bed excavated 
to the depth of about 2 feet is to be filled 
in with peaty soil and leaf mold ; stones 
of different sizes are placed around the 
margin to raise the bed above the general level ; 
more soil is to be added, and large and small 
stones are so placed as to crop out from the soil. 
^,-S A bed of this kind 
may be made in 
a retired part of the 
garden, and serve as 
the home of many 
choice alpiues. Mr. 
Robinson gives an 
illustration, figure 
5, of a bed of this 
kind made under 
his directions in 
the suburbs of Lon- 
don. We must defer 
a list of the readi- 
ly obtainable plants 
until another mouth. 
fell into a neglect from which it now appears 
to be reviving, as the dealers inform us that 
they have considerable inquiry for the seed. It 
4 
Fig. 3.— RIGHT. 
suited for rock-work 
The Tall Meadow Oat-Grass. 
BT T. E. BAKER, THORNDALE, CHESTER CO., PA. 
[The Oat-Grass, or Tall Meadow Oat-Grass, as 
it is variously called, at one time received con- 
siderable attention from agriculturists, but it 
THE tall sieadow oat-grass.— (Arrheuatherum avenaceum.) 
is usually in the catalogues under the incorrect 
name of Avena elatior. It is quite distinct in its 
structure from an Avena (oat). We give an en- 
....jj,,.,-^- graving, showing 
the general appear- 
ance of the foliage 
and flowering pan- 
icle. At one side 
is a magnified 
single spikelet. It 
is two - flowered ; 
the lower flower is 
staminate and bar- 
ren, and bears upon 
its back an awn, or 
bristle ; the upper 
flower, only, is per- 
Fig. t-wuo.NO. fecti m . seed . beal .. 
iug. The following article, by Mr. Baker, was 
prepared at the request of Mr. Henry A. Dreer, 
of Philadelphia, through whose kindness we 
are able to present it to our readers. — Ed.] 
"In the winter of 1862, or spring of 18G3, I 
purchased from Henry A. Dreer three or four 
bushels of Tall Meadow Oat-Grass seed ; in the 
spring of 1803 I seeded it, with barley, on two 
acres of good ground. The seed was mixed with 
the barley, and both drilled with the ordinary 
grain-drill. The greater portion of the grass 
seed did not come up, owing, I think, to 
its being covered too deeply ; the grass 
was consequently thinner than I desired, 
but still I have been well satisfied with the 
result. In the fall of the same year (1863) 
the grass, I think, obtained a growth of 18 
inches, the blades very numerous and fine. 
In the spring of 1864, and every year since, 
I have cropped it for seed and mowed the 
stubble for hay. The stubble makes superior 
hay, because of the numerous green blades, 
about a foot long, growing from the roots of 
the grass while the seed is ripening. I have 
now about 100 acres of land seeded with 
this grass and orchard grass mixed, and 
next spring I hope to have 50 acres more. 
The grass matures for hay about the 5th of 
June, and for seed about the 10th to 15th of 
June. The seed is very difficult to save. The 
moment, almost, that it is ripe it falls off; 
the top seeds ripen a few days earlier than 
the lower seeds. For two seasons I lost 
all the seed by delaying cutting a few days. 
"Last spring was the only time that the 
two acres were top-dressed with a light 
dressing of shovelings from a cow-yard. 
The land, as I have remarked, was in good 
condition when it was seeded, but I do not 
think it is hard on the ground ; certainly 
it does not impoverish the ground equal 
to timothy. It would do a farmer good 
to see the stand of grass now on the two 
acres. There is no difficulty about getting 
three crops a year for soiling cows. By 
the middle of May the grass will be from 
ten to fifteen inches high. In the begin- 
ning of July it will be fit to cut again, and 
a third time in the latter part of August. 
For pasture, it excels all the grasses with 
which I am acquainted. Cattle, horses, 
and sheep prefer it to an}' other grass I 
have on the farm. I have heretofore seeded 
it with wheat, in the fall ; the only objec- 
tion to this is that the grass grows as fast 
as the wheat, and is quite as tall at harvest 
as the grain. The straw, however, is bet- 
ter than most of the hay that is made. In 
the winter of 1868 and 1869, 1 fed 70 acres 
of this kind of straw to my dairy cows ; 
they ate it better than they would timothy, autf 
I am confident it was better for them than tim- 
othy hay. Next spring I purpose seeding 10 
acres with ' Tall Meadow Oat-Grass ' alone. I 
desire to have the ground prepared this fall, and 
sow the seed as early as possible in the spring. 
The quantity of seed to the acre should not be 
A ROCKT BED FOR ALPINES. 
less than two bushels — I prefer three bushels. 
The grass ripens for hay rather earlier than 
clover, and is therefore better to sow with clover 
than tiinolh}'. 
"I have given my driving horses, since the 
fall of 1863, no other kind of hay than ' Tall 
Meadow Oat-Grass.' These horses are valuable, 
and I feed them this because I think it the best 
hay I can grow for them. It is soft and pleasant 
to feel and look at, and not harsh and woody," 
