and thence called by such an odd name. * * It grows tall and thick, makes a more soft and pliable hay than Herdsgrass, besides it is a good grass not in abundance inferior to English grasses. It yields a good burden, three loads to the acre. This grass has another good quality which renders it very valuable in a country where help is so much wanting; it will not spoil or suffer, although it stand beyond the common time for mowing. It may be cut any time from July to October. * * This I wondered at, but viewing it attentively, I think I have found the reason of it. When it is grown about three feet high, it falls down, but doth not rot like. other grasses when lodged. In a little time after, at every joint it puts forth a new branch; now to maintain this young brood of suckers there must be a plentiful course of sap conveyed up through the main stem; by this means the grass is kept green and fit for mowing all this long period."

Fowl meadow is properly a swamp grass, as it will not succeed on land dry enough for grain; on the other hand it will not thrive in soils which have an excess of water. It is most at home in very moist localities, and those which are occasionally overflowed but not long covered with water. In such situations it is of great value, producing abundantly of excellent hay. It does not, as quoted above, become hard or strawey by long standing, but is always soft. The general opinion is, that it is best cut in August.

Mr. Howard says "Its tenacity of life is not great. Farmers who desire to keep up its growth, say it should be allowed to shed seed occasionally, in order that new plants may be produced."

Hon. Fred. Holbrook says "This grass grows in patches, here and there, in the intervale lands near my residence. It has come in of itself and held long possession in certain places, and grows very vigorously wherever it has foothold. It somewhat resembles Redtop in general shape and appearance of stalk head and seed, but the head is of a lighter and paler color and the stalk grows taller and quite slender and delicate, while the bottom or lower foliage is very abundant and fine. It undoubtedly excels Herdsgrass and Redtop for a large product and fine quality of hay. It turns out a full swath to the scythe, the hay is easily cured, remarkably soft, tender and succulent, excellent for milch cows, and particularly for working oxen, during their labors in the spring season. It is not

1

liable to injury from the flooding of the land by freshets. That is a great merit, for these lowest portions of our river lands are subject to overflows, and after a winter or spring freshet, the water not unfrequently remains on the land a week or fortnight at a time, and sometimes before one flood has entirely subsided, another succeeds, and keeps the land wet for three or four weeks. I infer that the flooding is an advantage rather than otherwise, from the fact that wherever this grass has come in of itself, it has invariably done so on those portions of the meadow which are overflowed. The Fowl meadow grass will last for an indefinite period. The self-seeded patches in our meadow have flourished there for a long time in spite of wind and tide, yielding as full and good crops now as at any former period."

Pou compressa-Wire Grass-Flat-stalked Meadow GrassBlue Grass, (not the Blue Grass of Kentucky.) This is a very hardy species, growing even on the driest soils and upon rocks barely covered with earth. It is readily distinguished from Poa pratensis by its flattened stem and darker green color. Mr. Howard* says, "It is perhaps the most nutritive grass known. All grazing animals eat it with avidity, and sheep are known to fatten faster on it than on any other. It shrinks less in drying than any other species, and makes in proportion to its bulk the heaviest, and at the same time the best hay, though the yield per acre would not be large." Dr. Darlington says, "cows which feed on it yield the richest milk and finest butter." A serious objection to it for hay is its scanty production of herbage, besides which it is, in arable culture as really a pest as Triticum repens, Witch grass-its creeping roots retaining life with great tenacity, even under much exposure. For dry, ledgy pastures and rocky knolls never under the plow, it is a highly valuable grass.

Poa nemoralis-Wood Meadow Grass. This is not so often met with as the above named species, and has never been much cultivated. It is readily eaten by cattle, and would probably succeed in moist and shady places.

Several other species of Poa are sometimes met with, among which

* Prize Essay on Grasses.-New York Transactions, 1855.

are Poa fluitans, Floating Meadow grass, or Manna grass, Poa aquatica, &c.

Festuca pratensis-Meadow Fescue. This is the most common of the fescue family, and a valuable pasture grass, somewhat conspicuous by reason of its glossy green foliage. It ripens with the June grass, earlier than most others, and so readily propagates itself by self-sowing. It is recommended by English writers to be used in mixtures for seeding pastures, but is rarely if ever sown purposely in this country. Its long tender, succulent leaves are abundant and readily eaten by cattle. Its habit is somewhat of the jungle or tussock style, causing an uneven surface, and is oftenest found in moist pastures and rich grass fields. The F. elatior-Tall fescue, and the F. loliacea-Slender spiked fescue, often ranked as distinct species, are varieties of the same species, the apparent difference in which. has been caused by cultivation. It is said to be identical with the Randall grass of Virginia.

Festuca ovina-Sheep's Fescue. This grows from eight to ten inches in hight in dense tufts. It receives its name from the eagerness with which it is eaten by sheep. F. duriuscula, Hard fescue, and F. rubra, Red fescue, are probably varieties of the same species.

Bromus secalinus-Chess, Cheat, Willard's Bromus. There are several species of Bromus, with regard to all of which the farmer's principal interest is to keep well rid of them. Notwithstanding the above named species has long been a well known pest in all wheat growing sections, it is only a few years since it was brought prominently into notice and extolled, as humbugs are wont to be, as a new and valuable grass, producing very abundantly of a quality superior to any other species, under the name of "Willard's Bromus." Four and five dollars per bushel were paid in many instances, besides giving a pledge that it should not be allowed to go to seed, (this in order to keep the cheat going or growing beyond the first season, as being an annual weed it would both show its true colors the first year and die if not cut early.) The cheat went so smoothly for a while, that in some instances prominent officers of Agricultural Societies in a neighboring State were induced to use their influence to extend its cultivation.

Triticum repens-Couch Grass-Witch Grass-Twitch Grass

Quitch Grass, &c.-This is one of the most catholic of all grasses, in its tastes and habits, in so much that scarcely a garden or field, pasture or roadside can be found, be the soil what it may, which is not occupied by it to greater or less extent; and if permitted, its long creeping roots-or more properly, rhizomes, (underground stems,)-pushing in every direction, will soon have full possession, and monopolize all the plant food within its reach. It is commonly regarded as a troublesome pest, from the difficulty of eradicating it, and the injury it does by choking other plants. Cattle eat it readily enough, either as grass or hay, and on loose sands its roots are useful in binding the surface. Detested as it usually is, some farmers advocate its culture for hay. One told me not long since, that he would be glad to sow ten bushels of the seed on his farm. Another writes me "Its value for dry forage, I consider equal to either Herdsgrass, Redtop or Clover. I do not sow the seed because it is unnecesary, my farm having been well stocked with it when I purchased; but had it not been so, I do not hesitate to declare, that with my present knowledge of its value, I should labor diligently to introduce it."

Viewed simply as a grass for hay, the principal objection to it is that it gives but a moderate crop at the best, standing very thin; and if the soil be rich, it lodges and turns yellow, before fully grown; besides, it rapidly exhausts the soil, and also checks the growth of better grasses, by what is called 'binding out.'

Phalaris arundinacea-Reed Canary Grass.-This fine looking, deep green grass, frequently arrests attention by its luxuriant growth and promising appearance, but is of little or no agricultural value, except as indicating by its presence, the need of draining; and where such land is properly drained, it dies out. The liability of this grass to become filled with ergot, if it stands beyond the time of flowering, is sufficient to condemn it, were its nutritive properties far greater than they are. A variety of this grass with white stripes in the leaves, known as Ribbon grass, is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental plant. This peculiarity it loses however upon being transferred to wet situations.

Ammophila arundinacea-Beach Grass-Mat Grass-Sea Sand Reed. This is remarkable for its creeping root, or, more properly, rhizome, which is sometimes twenty to thirty feet in length. It is

a very common occupant of the sea-side in all countries, and although of no agricultural value, it has many times been cultivated, as from its peculiar growth, it operates very beneficially in tying up and keeping together the sands of the coast. In England it is preserved and carefully looked after, by act of Parliament, for this reason. Congress has expended at various times, upwards of thirty thousand dollars in its culture on Cape Cod, for the protection of Provincetown harbor from the blowing sands which were driven in by north winds, and which threatened its destruction. Its culture, where needful, is of the easiest and simplest character possible. It may be worth a trial on deep railroad cuttings, in sands liable to blow, or in sandy clays liable to slide from wet and frosts. Dr. Darlington, in his Agricultural Botany, ranks this grass as a species of Calamagrostis.

Anthoxanthum odoratum-Sweet-scented Vernal Grass-Vanilla Grass.-This is particularly noticable for its fragrance, which is said to be owing to the presence of benzoic acid. Its strong aromatic odor is perceptible, upon being bruised when green, and given off freely when drying, and is imparted to other grasses when cured with them. One author speaks very highly of it, and deems the peculiar flavor of the spring butter sold in Philadelphia, to be in consequence of its forming a considerable part of the feed in pastures in that vicinity. It is not generally believed to be either very rich in nutritive properties or particularly acceptable to cattle. It starts quite early in spring, and runs to seed sooner than almost any other. Mr. Flint, in his work on Grasses, says, that it is also one of the latest in autumn, and esteems it as a pasture grass when mixed largely with others. The seed was widely distributed from the Patent Office, a few years since. I should judge it to be indigenous to Maine, having seen it in many sections, on both dry and moist soils, growing most freely however, on the latter.

Panicum germanicum-German Millet, Hungarian Grass, Honeyblade, Golden Leaf, &c. Much has been said and written lately about Hungarian grass and Honeyblade as new and superior grasses destined to eclipse all others. Upon trial they prove very similar to, if not identical with, what has long been known as German or Hungarian Millet. Encomiums of the highest character as to its productiveness and value have come to us chiefly from the West,