94 
pices. It flowers about the second week of July, 
and ripens about the third week of August ; and 
when growing upon boggy ground, it yields per 
acre when in flower 10,2094 lbs. of green produce, 
4,5341 Ibs. of dry produce, and 4383 lbs. of nutri- 
tious matter,—and when in seed 13,6125 lbs. of 
green produce, 5,445 lbs. of dry produce, and 585 
lbs. of nutritious matter. 
Agrostis stricta, upright bent or rock bent,— 
called by some botanists 7richodiwm rupestre,— 
| grows on dry, sandy, rocky soils, and is distin- 
guished at a glance from all the other bent 
_ grasses, by its possessing a fine deep, green colour. 
| It requires little stimulating from either soil or 
| manure ; it impoverishes in only a small degree 
any soil on which it grows; and if cultivated, 
without manure, on poor, siliceous, thin, and 
half-waste ground, it will for six successive years 
yield a full and undiminishing return of crop. 
On account of these properties, it may, in cer- 
tain situations, be worth the attention of some 
farmers ; yet it possesses comparatively little 
intrinsic value, and can be profitably cultivated 
_ only on soils which refuse to bear any other for- 
| the surface. 
age, and cannot be remuneratingly reclaimed. 
When grown on bog, Agrostts stricta yields per 
_ imperial acre when in flower 9,528? Ibs. of green 
produce, 4,764$ lbs. of dry produce, and 2513 lbs. 
of nutritious matter,—and when in seed 7,487 lbs. 
_ of green produce, 2,714 Ibs. of dry produce, and 
178 lbs. of nutritious matter. 
Agrostis repens, creeping-rooted bent or white 
creeping bent—called by Withering Agrostis nigra 
or black couch grass—often grows on pasture and 
corn-fields, takes powerful hold of the soil, has a 
pertinaciously stoloniferous habit, and gives great 
trouble and vexation as a weed. So exceedingly 
vivacious is it that the least particle of root or 
stolon will become a plant; and so penetrating 
and ramified in its intertexture with the soil, 
that ploughing will not erase it from clayey land, 
and paring and burning will do it little damage in 
almost any ground. The only successful or at least 
advisable method of attempting its extirpation, 
is to follow the plough, to fork out the roots, and 
to use care that none be left to strike anew on 
A peculiar disease, of the nature of 
rust, attacks this species, dries up the extremity 
of its leaves, and gives it an unsightly appear- 
ance. Agrostis repens flowers in the second 
week of August, and ripens toward the end of 
September ; and, on clayey loam, it yields per 
acre when in flower 6,125? lbs. of green produce, 
2,680 lbs. of dry produce, and 287 Ibs. of nutri- 
tious matter. 
Agrostis nivea, snowy bent or straw-coloured 
bent—called by some botanists 7rzchodiwm cani- 
num—egrows on either heathy or clayey soils, 
but bears two times more produce on the former 
than on the latter; it is a plant of too infrequent 
occurrence to be formidable as a weed ; and it is 
| too meagre in nutritious properties, and too un- 
accommodating to any peculiarly waste soil, to 
AGROSTIS. 
become an object of cultivation. It flowers about ° 
the second week of August, and ripens about the 
beginning of September ; and when growing on 
sandy soil, it yields per acre when in flower 
6,1255 Ibs. of green produce, 2,603} lbs. of dry | 
produce, and 239+ lbs. of nutritious matter,—and 
when in seed 4,764} Ibs. of green produce, 
1,3104 lbs. of dry produce, and 149 lbs. of nutri- 
tious matter. 
Agrostis lobata, lobed bent or sea-side bent, 
grows partly on wet stiff clayey lands, such as 
those of the most adhesive portions of the Lon- 
don clay basin, but is found principally on soils 
of various descriptions in the immediate vicinity | 
of the sea ; and though it is of considerably less 
economical value than the Agrostis vuglaris mutica, | 
it might probably be well worth cultivation in 
many situations which are exposed to the storm- 
spray of the sea, or to frequent and dense coast 
mists. Its seeds are produced in great abundance, 
and germinate with great freedom and vigour. It 
flowers in the first week of August, and ripens | 
about the end of the same month ; and as grown 
upon siliceous sand, it yields per acre when in | 
flower 6,8064 Ibs. of green produce, 3,403 lbs. of 
dry produce, and 319 lbs. of nutritious matter,— 
and when ripe 6,125? lbs. of green produce, 2,680 
Ibs. of dry produce, and 287 Ibs. of nutritious | 
matter. 
Agrostis Mexicana, or Mexican bent, isa native 
of the country whose name it bears, and was in- 
troduced to Britain in 1780, by Mr. Gilbert Alex- 
ander. It grows freely in a variety of soils, but 
is much fonder of such as are calcareous or argil- 
laceous than of such as are siliceous or moory. Its 
seeds are producedin abundance, and vegetate with 
freedom and power. Though quite'a hardy plant, 
it may nevertheless retain some disadvantageous | 
properties which a longer and more thorough ac- 
climitation will considerably modify. At pre- 
sent, it is late in throwing out its foliage, and it 
but very slightly excels Agrostis palustris in use- 
ful properties as herbage; so that, except for the 
rapidity and energy with which it rises from seed 
to maturity, it possesses no great claim on the 
attention of the farmer. It flowers in the third 
week of August, and ripens toward the end of 
September; and when grown upon rich, black, 
siliceous, sandy soil, it yields per acre when in 
flower 19,0574 lbs. of green produce, 6,670 lbs. of 
dry produce, and 5954 lbs. of nutritious matter. 
Agrostis ramosissima or side-branching bent, is 
distinguished by the number of branches which 
ramify from its stem, and by such a hard and 
semi-ligneous texture of its culms as somewhat 
assimilates it in character to an undershrub. Its 
herbage is late in appearing, and acquires little 
bulk before the beginning of summer; and its 
flowers do not appear till the first or second week 
of October, and are very seldom, even in the south 
of England, succeeded by more than mere embryo 
seeds. The frost not only prevents its fructifica- 
tion, but destroys its foliage, killing it down to 
