The Botanists Companion, Vol. II | Page 6

have seen it wild, it is certainly very good; but it is liable to the objection of Festuca elatior, the seeds grow but sparingly.

25. HOLCUS lanatus. YORKSHIRE GRASS, or MEADOW SOFT-GRASS.--This has been much recommended as fit for meadow-land. I am not an advocate for it. It is late in blooming, and consequently not fit for the scythe at the time other grasses are; and I find the lower foliage where it occurs in meadows to be generally yellow and in a state of decay, from its tendency to mat and lie prostrate. I hear it has been cultivated in Yorkshire; hence probably its name. Two bushels of the seed would sow an acre; and it is sometimes met with in our seed-shops. It will grow in any soil, but thrives best in a moist loam.

26. HOLCUS mollis. CREEPING SOFT-GRASS.--Mr. Curtis in the third edition of his Treatise on Grasses says, he is induced to have a better opinion than formerly of this grass, and that Mr. Dorset also thinks it may be cultivated to advantage in dry sandy soils. I have never seen it exhibit any appearance that has indicated any such thing, and do not recommend it.

27. HORDEUM pratense. MEADOW BARLEY-GRASS.--This is productive, and forms a good bottom in Battersea meadows: but although I have heard it highly recommended, I should fear it was much inferior to many others. One species of Barley-grass, which grows very commonly in our sea-marshes, the Hordeum maritimum, is apt to render cattle diseased in the mouth, from chewing the seeds, which are armed with a strong bristly awn not dissimilar to the spike of this grass.

28. LOLIUM perenne. RAY- or RYE-GRASS.--This has been long in cultivation, and is usually sown with clover under a crop of spring corn. It forms in the succeeding autumn a good stock of herbage, and the summer following it is commonly mown for hay, or the seed saved for market, after which the land is usually ploughed and fallowed, to clear it of weeds, or as a preparation for Wheat, by sowing a crop of Winter Tares or Turnips. The seed is about six or eight pecks per acre, and ten pounds of Clover mixt as the land best suits. Although this is a very advantageous culture for such purposes, and when the land is not to remain in constant pasture; yet it is by no means a fit grass for permanent meadow, as it exhausts the soil, and presently goes into a state of decay for want of nourishment, when other plants natural to the soil are apt to overpower it. There are several varieties of this grass. Some I have seen with the flowers double, others with branched panicles; some that grow very luxuriantly, and others that are little better than annuals; and there is also a variety in cultivation called PACEY's Rye-grass, much sought for. But I am of opinion that nothing but a fine rich soil will produce a very good crop, and that the principal difference, after all, is owing more to cultivation or change of soil, than to any real difference in the plant itself.

29. MELICA coerulea. BLUE MELIC-GRASS.--This is common on all our heaths; it appears coarse, and not a grass likely to be useful. Yet this kind is spoken of by Dr. Walker under the name of Fly-bent, who says it is one of the most productive and best grasses for sheep-feed in the Highlands of Scotland, where it grows to the height of three feet, a size to which it never attains in this part of the country. It is found in all soils, both in dry and boggy places.

30. PANICUM germanicum. GERMAN PANIC, or MOHAR.--I notice this plant here, although it is not a native of this country; neither is it in cultivation. It was introduced some years since by Sir Thomas Tyrrwhit from Hungary. It is said there to be the best food of all others for horses; and I think it might be cultivated to advantage on high sandy soils, as a late crop of green fodder. The seeds are similar to Millet [Footnote: The Hungarian horses are remarked for their sleekness, and it is said that it is in consequence of being fed on Mohar.].

31. PANICUM crus galli. COCK'S-FOOT-PANIC-GRASS.--This plant has, I believe, never been recommended for cultivation; but it possesses qualities which render it worth attention: it will sometimes grow to the height of four feet, is very fine food for cattle, and will no doubt make excellent hay. It stands dry weather better than most other grasses I know. The seeds will not vegetate before May, and the crop not in perfection till late September. In dry soils I think it could be cultivated to advantage if sown among a crop of