380 
seems to prove, that these bulbs do not form so valuable a 
part of the plant as the joints, which are so conspicuous in 
the Phleum pratense , the nutritive powers of which exceed 
those of the P. nodosum , as 8 to 28. 
LXX. Phleum pratense. Wither. 2. P. 1 1 7. 
Meadow cat’s-tail grass. Nat. of Britain. 
At the time of flowering, the produce from a clayey 
loam is 
or lbs. per acre. 
0 
Grass, 60 oz. The produce per acre - 653400 0 = 40837 
80 dr. of grass weigh when dry - 34 dr. 1 o 77fiq( r n _ 17q „ , - 
The produce of the space, ditto - 408 J 7355 15 
The weight lost by the produce of one acre in drying - 23481 9 
64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 2. 2 dr. 1 „ 
The produce of the space, ditto - 37.2 } 25523 7 “ 1595 3 
The weight of nutritive matter which is lost by leaving the crop 
till the seed be ripe, exceeding one half of its value - - 2073 1 1 
At the time the seed is ripe, the produce is 
Grass, 60 oz. The produce per acre - 653400 0 = 40837 8 0 
80 dr. of grass weigh when dry - 38 dr. 1 
The produce of the space, ditto - 456 j “ 9397 13 0 
The weight lost by the produce of one acre in drying - - 21439 11 O 
64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 5. 3 dr. 
The produce of the space, ditto - 86.1 
58703 14 = 3668 15 14 
The latter-math produce is 
Grass, 14 oz. The produce per acre - 152460 0= 9528 12 0 
64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 2 dr. 4764 6 = 297 12 6 
64? dr. of the straws afford of nutritive matter 7 dr. The 
nutritive powers of the straws simply, therefore, exceed those 
of the leaves, in proportion as 28 to 8 ; and the grass at 
the time of flowering, to that at the time the seed is ripe, 
as 10 to 23 ; and the latter-math, to the grass of the flower- 
ing crop, as 8 to 10. 
The comparative merits of this grass will appear from 
the above particulars to be very great ; to which may be 
added the abundance of fine foliage that it produces early 
in the spring. In this respect it is inferior to the Poa fertilis 
and Poa angustifolia only. The value of the straws at the 
time the seed is ripe, exceeds that of the grass at the time 
of flowering, as 28 to 10; a circumstance which increases 
its value above many others ; for, by this property, its 
valuable early foliage may be cropped to an advanced 
period of the season without injury to the crop of hay, 
which in other grasses which send forth their flowering 
