SECT. I.—GRASSES. 5
°7 caltie generally, though when half starved they are sometimes ob-served to eat of it. There is a variety of it with knobby roots whichls found to be a most troublesome and noxious weed in arable lands,Particularly in some parts of the coast of Hampshire where it abounds,fnis variety was smith: years ago introduced into the island of St. Kitts,and it has since taken such firm possession of the land as to render alarge district qui;e useless. Persons should be cautious how they spe-culate with weeds from appearances only.
12. BRIZA media. Quaking-Grass. —Is common in meadow land,a hd helps to make a thick bottom; it does not however appear to beWorth the trouble of select culture. It is bitter to the taste.
13. BROMUS mollis. Soft Brome-Grass. —Mr. Curtis has given av ery clear account of this grass, which he says predominates much inthe meadows near London, but that the seeds are usually ripe and thegrass dried up before the hay time : hence it is lost; and he in conse-quence considered it only in the light of a weed. It has seldom occurredto tne to difler in opinion from this gentleman, who certainly has givenus, as far as it goes, a most perfect description of our useful grasses : butexperience ha* convinced me that the Soft Brome-Grass, which seedsand springs up so early, makes the chief bulk of most of our meadows*n March and April; and although it is ripe and over, or nearly so, by thenay harvest, yet the food it yields at this early season is of the greatestttloment, as little else is found fit for the food of cattle before the mea-dow is shut up for bay, and this plant being eaten (town ai that season' s not any loss to the hay crop. Whoever examine.-, the seeds of this?rass will be led to admire how wonderfully it is fitted to make its way'nto the soil at the season of it- ri ening, when the land is thus coveredw ith the whole produce of a meadow. 1 notice this curious piece of me-chanism, * not that it is altogether peculiar to this plant, but to showthat Nature has provided it means of succeeding m burying itself inthe ground, when all the endeavours of man could not sow the land^ith any other to answer a similar purpose. If the seeds of this grassw ere collected and introduced in some meadows where it is not com-mon, I am sure the early feeding would be thereby improved.
The seeds are sometimes mixed with those of Rye-grass at market,aid it is known by the name of Cocks: it has the effect of reducings uch samples in value, but I should not hesitate in preferring such toany other. If any one should be inclined to make the above experi-ment, two pecks of the seed sown on an acre will be sufficient.—SeeTreatise on Brit. Grasses hy Mr. Curtis, edit. 5.
, * Many seeds of the grasses are provided with awns which curl upin dry weather and relax with moisture. Thus by change of atmospherea continued motion is occasioned, which enables the seeds to find their*ay through the foliage to the soil, where it buries itself in a short timem a very curious manner.
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