10

PLANTS USEFUL IN AGRICULTURE.

make excellent hay. It stands dry weather better than most othergrasses I know. The seeds will not vegetate before May, and the cropis not in perfection till late in September. In dry soils I think it could becultivated to advantage if sown among a crop of Tares or Rye in tht*autnuunj and after they are cut in summer, this would spring up andbe a valuable acquisition in a dry autumn, as it would seldom fail pro-ducing an abundant crop.

It grows thick, and would tend to clear the land as a smothering cropover weeds: it is annual.

32. PHALARIS arundinacea. Rbkd Canary-Grass. —This is not incultivation, but grows plentifully on the muddy banks of the Thames jit will also grow very well in a moderately dry soil; and I have observedthat cattle eat it when it is young. As it is early and very productive,as well as extremely hardy, I think it might become valuable asearly feed. The seeds of this plant do not readily grow, but it mighteasily be introduced by planting the roots in the spring. The Stripedor Ribbon Grass of the flower garden is only a variety of tbis. Se&Poa aquatica,

33. PHI.EUM pratense. Timotejy-Grass, or Meadow CatVtail-Grass. —Is very coarse and late, and consequently not equal to manyof our other grasses either for hay or pasture. It has been highly re-commended in America, where it may probably have been found to an-swer better than it has done with us in cultivation. The seed used tobe imported from New York, and met with a ready sale; but I believeit is seldom imported at this time. Or. Walker says the seeds weretaken from South Carolina (where it was first cultivated) to that State,by one Timothy Hanson, from whence it acquired its name.

The same gentleman supposes it may be introduced into the High-lands of Scotland with good effect, but is of my opinion as to its utilityin England.— Rural Economy of the Hebrides, vol. ii. p. 27.

34. PHLEUM nodosum. Bulbous Cat's-tail-Grass. (Phleum pra-tense var. y. Hudson.) —This affects a drier soil than the Timothy-grass : it grows very frequently in dry thin soils, where it main-tains itself against the parching sun by its bulbous roots, which liedormant for a considerable time, but grow again very readily whenthe wet weather sets in,—a curious circumstance, which gives us anample proof of the wise contrivance of the great Author of Nature tofertilize ail kinds of soil for the benefit of his creatures here below.There is another instance of this in the Poa bulbosa, Bulbous Meadow-grass, which grows on the Steine at Brighton, and which I have kepti' 1papers two years out of ground, arid It has vegetated afterwards.

35- POA annua. Annual Meadow-Grass. —This is the most generalplant in all nature : it grows in almost every situation where there ' sany vegetation. It has been spoken of as good in cultivation, and ha*