666 
flowers in autumn and winter, when few other 
plants are in bloom. After flowering, the stem 
lies down, and the roots continue dormant all the 
summer, when they need but little water. When 
they begin to grow, they had better be placed in 
the stove, as they will not flower so abundantly 
in thegreenhouse. A light loamy soil suits them 
best, or a mixture of loam and peat ; and they are 
readily increased by dividing the roots, or from 
cuttings planted in the same kind of soil under 
a handglass.” 
CANARY-GRASS,—botanically Phalaris. A 
genus of grasses, of the agrostis division, and con- 
stituting itself the type of a subdivision. The com- 
mon species, Phalaris canariensis, grows wild in 
some uncultivated spots in Britain; and is culti- 
vated, for various purposes, in some districts of 
England, and in some other countries. Its culm 
has usually a height of about two feet ; its panicle 
is so contracted as to have the form of an oval 
spike ; its glume is thin, chaffy, and entire at the 
point, and has a large keel and two green stripes 
along each side; andits seed is smooth and shining, 
whitish in colour, and difficult of separation from 
the glume. The shining appearance of the seed 
| is alluded to in the botanical name phalaris, 
which signifies “ brilliant ;’ and the form, colour, 
and economical uses of the seed are well known 
to almost every young person in Britain, as the 
chief food on which caged domestic singing-birds 
subsist. The plant is cultivated in the Isle of 
Thanet and some other English districts, for the 
supply of our shops with bird-seed; and in the 
Canary Islands, for the grinding of its seeds into 
flour, and the baking of this into bread, for the 
use of the human population. It requires a rich 
and thoroughly pulverized soil; it takes a longer 
time to arrive at maturity than either oats or 
| barley; and it is regarded, in many of the finest 
districts of the south of England, as a consider- 
ably precarious crop; and yet it forms a rather 
favourite subject of cultivation with many of the 
farmers of the Isle of Thanet, and of the district 
around Sandwich. 
It is usually sown after summer-fallow, bean- 
stubble, or clover-ley. If the land be not very 
rich, a coat of thoroughly rotten farm-yard ma- 
nure is, in many instances, ploughed into it; and 
whether manured or not, the land is well ploughed 
in autumn, and completely pulverized at the ear- 
liest possible period in late winter or early spring. 
The seed is sown either broadcast or in drills 
| about a foot asunder, at the rate of about five gal- 
lons per acre; and, if sown broadcast, it is well 
harrowed in. When the blade appears, and the 
_ rows are distinct, a first hoeing is given with the 
Dutch hoe; and in May or June, a second hoeing 
is given with the common hoe. ‘The crop is later 
in ripening than any other cereal crop; and is 
cut with an instrument called a “twibble” and 
| a “hink,” which lays it into masses, called wads, 
each equal to about half a sheaf. ‘The wads are 
left long on the ground, in order to receive suf- 
CANARY-GRASS. 
ficiency of moisture to crack or loosen the glumes, 
and permit the grain to be thrashed out; and 
they are from time to time turned, in order to 
enjoy the full action of both moisture and sun- 
shine. The cut crop thus remains in the field 
till December ; and yet neither vegetates nor sus- 
tains any kind of damage. The usual produce is 
from three to five quarters per acre. But in the 
Woburn experiments, on a rich clayey loam, 
above a retentive subsoil, the quantity of green 
produce of the whole crop per acre was 54,450 
Ibs.; of dry produce, 17,696} lbs.; and of nutri- 
tive matter, 1,876 lbs. The straw has little value 
compared to that of other grain crops; yet forms 
good fodder for horses. The crop has been tried 
in a green state for the feeding of cattle; but, 
irrespective of the comparatively high cost of 
seed, it has not proved equal in abundance and 
nutritiousness to the forage-grasses in general 
cultivation. 
The reed-like species, Phalaris arundinacea— 
called by Trinius Degraphis arundinacea, and by 
Sowerby and Smith Arwndo colorata—abounds in 
ditches, pools, and the margins of rivers, in many 
parts of Britain, and usually grows to the height 
of from three to six feet, flowers in July, and is 
perennial-rooted. Its culms are upright, and 
nearly covered with long, broad, tapering, sheath- 
ing, dark-green leaves; its panicle is spreading, 
crowded, and generally of a dark reddish colour ; 
and its seed is long, smooth, and shining. It has 
been found to yield, per acre, on a black sandy 
loam incumbent on clay, 27,225 lbs. of green pro- 
duce, 12,2513 lbs. of dry produce, and 1,701 lbs. 
of nutritive matter; and, on stiff adhesive clay, 
34,031 lbs. of green produce, 17,0153 lbs. of dry 
produce, and 2,127 lbs. of nutritive matter. Cattle 
generally refuse it in its growing or green state, 
yet readily eat it when made into hay, cut into 
chaff, and mixed with other food; and it yields 
so very large a bulk of hay, with a fair propor- 
tion of nutritive matter, as probably to be deserv- 
ing a far higher degree of attention from farmers 
than it has, yet received—A variegated variety 
of this species, P. a. variegata, is well-known as 
an ornamental garden grass. 
The Cape species, Phalaris capensis, is an an- 
nual, and was introduced from the Cape of Good 
Hope in 1804. It grows to the height of about 
a foot, flowers in June and July, and is rather | 
earlier than the common species, but has a more 
slender culm, a smaller and more tapering pani- 
cle, and considerably smaller and darker-coloured 
seeds.—The paradoxical species, Phalaris para- 
doxica, is an annual, and was introduced from 
the Levant in the latter part of the 17th century. 
Its culm is nine or ten inches high; its panicle 
is cylindrical and spike-like; some of its florets 
are barren; its glume has a tooth on the keel; 
its seed is small, and similar to that of the Cape 
species ; and its entire economical value is greatly 
inferior to that of the common species—The 
changed and the appendiculate species, P. com- 
