MUCH has b«n faid and wntlen rcrpefling a particular kind of Grafs, which grows in a fmall meadow, in 
the panto of Orchefton St. Mary, .n Wiltfltirc, which is .flirted to produce a moll extraordinary quantity of 
herbage; and to rend a the piece cu ground, whereon it grows, exceedingly valuable. This Grafs has been 
fought tor by many ; but of what kind itand whether it is really a peculiar kind of Grafs, has not teen 
aieertained. Mi. Curtis (whole zealous attention to obtain, as well as readinefs to communicate ufcful know¬ 
ledge, cannot be funiciently prailcd,) has endeavoured to develops this myftery. By the favour of a Friend, 
redding near tne Spot, he obtained fix Imall 1 urfs cut up in different parts of the above meadow. The Turfs 
were planted in his Garden. From the produce of thefe Turfs, he has concluded that the extraordinary fertility 
of this Meadow, does not arile from any new Grats, peculiar to it, but from fevcral unufual circumfiances, 
concurring, and favouring in an uncommon degree the growth of certain well-known Grades, efpecially the 
Poa triviahs and Agrojhs alba. —The account of this experiment is publilhed in the Annals of Agriculture, 
N°. 70, p.352. The produce of onlyyfw ot tbofe Turfs are mentioned. If Mr. Curtis has thus fixed upon 
the Poa triviahs and Agrojhs alba from the frequency of their appearance in the Turfs which he planted, the lift 
which he has given of the plants produced from thole Turfs, will, it is apprehended, lcarcely juftify the 
conclufion. The Poa trivialis indeed appears in -all the five Turfs. But the next in frequency is the Triticutn 
ripens, or common Couch Grafs. This is a mod; remarkable circumftance. As it is very rare that a fingle blade 
of that Grafs appears in any meadow or pafiurc which has been in Grafs any confiderable length of time. It is 
poftible there might have been lomc roots of the Triticum repens in the plat, before the Turfs were admitted. 
The Author has been informed that this meadow is fituated near a fmall River, from which it is liable fome- 
times to be overflown ; but not very frequently: and that after fuch flooding it furnifhes a moft extraordinary 
laro-e Crop of Grafs ; incomparably larger than when it has not been flooded. This rivulet is delcribcd as iffuing 
from the Chalk-Hills at a fmall diftance above this meadow. And it is probable that the water brings down and 
depofits on the land, a quantity of calcareous matter, to which its uncommon fertility is owing. 
A 1 tho’ the Writer of this it quite of the opinion of Mr. Curtis, that the fertility is not to be aferib’d to any 
particular Grafs, vet (from the intelligence of a Gentleman who viewed this meadow for two days laft fummer, 
at the time when the meadow had jufi begun to be mowed, and brought away with him fome roots and flowering 
fpecimens of a Grafs, which the people at work in the meadow, and an intelligent Farmer in the neighbourhood, 
allured him was the particular or famous Orchcfton Grafs) he has been led to conclude that the Grafs moft 
predominant in that meadow, is, not the Poa trivialis, but the Alopecurus pratenju. The Gentleman indeed was no 
Rntanift But upon (hewing him fome fpecimens of Graffes, he .mmediately fixed upon the Foxtail. As the 
meadow was mowed early fn June, it liems at lead probable, that the Foxtail was at that tame the moft 
confpicuous.* 
As there is undoubtedly a particular period when the Graffes are in the moft proper Rate for mowing ; and as 
that llate is moft probably about the time of their flowering, (either a little before or a little after) mould all the 
Graffes of this collcffion be found upon fair trial to deferve cultivation : The following Diagraph would feem to 
divide them into proper aflbrtments to be fown together; fuppofing the fields or meadows where they are to be 
fown be prmcipallymtended fo. Hay.. If “f e , h= Bracl 4 0 ,/,he left hand will diredl to the 
nght hand will (lieye thq dtvifion. ^ 'reps o H ^ ^ fit (o cut earl in June . The fiend about 
aflortmenf. In the diviiion ° ^ P » £ j u w T , divifion of jive parts, the firjl will be ripe about 
beginning of July ; and th zjij'th, the middle or latter end of July. 
f Annual Meadow flowers 
1 Vernal 
1 Foxtail 
LSoft Brome 
r Smooth- {talked Meadow 
j Rough-ftalked Meadow 
2 \ Smaller Fefcue - 
L Quake Grals 
f Rough Cock’s-foot 
% j Tall Oat - 
3 j Meadow Fcfcue - 
I. Darnel 
f Dogftail 
; Yellow Oat 
4 * { Soft-Grafs 
l Fine Bent 
r Meadow Barley - 
c \ Catfiail 
LMarfli Bent 
. . , tll rr of this Grafs ni a growing ftatc, 
The Author has Jip.ce received a tuU t 
i ft week in May 
2d week in May 
Ditto 
3d week in May 
4th week in May 
1 ft week in June 
Ditto 
2d week in June 
Ditto 
Ditto 
3d week in June 
4th week in June 
Ditto 
1 ft week in June 
2d week in July 
3d week in July 
Ditto 
4th week in July 
Ditto 
} 1 
\ 2 
1 
1 
* 
J 
and from the leaf lie can venture to renounce it the Abpctomr pr«<uiSs. 
