The Botanist's Companion Part 2

32. PHALARIS arundinacea. REED CANARY-GRa.s.s.--This is not in cultivation, but grows plentyfully on the muddy banks of the Thames; it will also grow very well in a moderately dry soil; and I have observed that 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 as early feed. The seeds of this plant do not readily grow, but it might easily be introduced by planting the roots in the spring. The Striped or Ribbon Gra.s.s of the flower garden is only a variety of this. See Poa aquatica.

33. PHLEUM pratense. TIMOTHY-GRa.s.s, or MEADOW-CAT'S-TAIL-GRa.s.s.--Is very coa.r.s.e and late, and consequently not equal to many of our gra.s.ses either for hay or pasture. It has been highly recommended in America, where it may probably have been found to answer better than it has done with us in cultivation. The seed used to be imported from New York, and met with a ready sale; but I believe it is seldom imported at this time. Dr. Walker says the seeds were taken 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 Highlands of Scotland with good effect, but is of my opinion as to its utility in England.--Rural Economy of the Hebrides, vol. ii. p. 27.

34. PHLEUM nodosum. BULBOUS CAT'S-TAIL-GRa.s.s. (Phleum pratense var. ?

Hudson.)--This affects a drier soil than the Timothy-gra.s.s: it grows very frequently in dry thin soils, where it maintains itself against the parching sun by its bulbous roots, which lie dormant for a considerable time, but grow again very readily when the wet weather sets in,--a curious circ.u.mstance, which gives us an ample proof of the wise contrivance of the great Author of Nature to fertilize all kinds of soil for the benefit of his creatures here below. There is another instance of this in the Poa bulbosa, Bulbous Meadow-gra.s.s, which grows on the Steine at Brighton, and which I have kept in papers two years out of ground, and it has vegetated afterwards.

35. POA annua. ANNUAL MEADOW-GRa.s.s.--This is the most general plant in all nature: it grows in almost every situation where there is any vegetation. It has been spoken of as good in cultivation, and has had the term Suffolk gra.s.s applied to it, from its having been grown in that county. I have never seen it in such states, neither can I say I should antic.i.p.ate much benefit to arise from a plant which is not only an annual, but very diminutive in size.

36. POA aquatica. WATER MEADOW-GRa.s.s.--This is quite an aquatic, but is eaten when young by cattle, and is very useful in fenny countries: it is highly ornamental, and might be introduced into ponds for the same purpose as Arundo Phragmites: it might also be planted with Festuca elatior and Phalaris arundinacea, in wet dug out places, where it would be useful as fodder, and form excellent shelter for game.

37. POA fluitans. FLOTE FESCUE-GRa.s.s.--This would be of all others the most nutritive and best plant for feeding cattle; but it thrives only in water. I have noticed it only because it is highly recommended by the editor of Mr. Curtis's Observations on British Gra.s.ses, 5th edit. The cattle are very fond of it; but it is not to be cultivated, unless it be in ponds, being perfectly aquatic.

Linnaeus speaks of the seeds being collected and sold in Poland and Germany as a dainty for culinary purposes; but I have never seen it used here, neither are the seeds to be collected in great quant.i.ties.

Stillingfleet, on the authority of a Mr. Dean, speaks highly of its merits in a water-meadow, and also quotes Mr Ray's account of the famous meadow at Orchiston near Salisbury. There this, as well as Poa trivialis, most certainly is in its highest perfection; but the real and general value of gra.s.ses or other plants must not be estimated by such very local instances, when our object is to direct the student to a general knowledge of the subject. See Curtis, art. Poa trivialis.

38. POA trivialis. ROUGH-STALKED MEADOW-GRa.s.s.--Those who have observed this gra.s.s in our best watered meadows, and in other low pasture-land, have naturally been struck with its great produce and fine herbage. In some such places it undoubtedly appears to have every good quality that a plant of this nature can possess; it is a princ.i.p.al gra.s.s in the famous Orchiston meadow near Salisbury, and its amazing produce is mentioned in the Bath Agricultural Papers, vol. i. p. 94: but persons should not be altogether caught by such appearances; for I have seen it in some lands, and such as would produce good red Clover, a very diminutive and insignificant plant indeed.

When persons wish to introduce it, they should carefully examine their neighbouring pastures, and see how it thrives in such places. The seeds are small, and six pounds would be sufficient for an acre, with others that affect a similar soil.

39. POA pratensis. SMOOTH-STALKED MEADOW-GRa.s.s.--This is also a gra.s.s of considerable merit when it suits the soil; it affects a dry situation, and in some such places it is the princ.i.p.al herbage; but I have cultivated this by itself for seed in tolerably good land, and after some time I found it matted so much by its creeping roots as to become quite unproductive both of herbage and seed. Care should therefore be taken that only a proper portion of this be introduced. The seeds of this and Poa trivialis are the same in bulk, and probably the same proportion should be adopted. The seeds of both species hang together by a substance like to cobwebs, when thrashed, and require to be rubbed either in ashes or dry sand to separate them before sowing.

SECT. II.--ARTIFICIAL GRa.s.sES [Footnote: This technical term is generally known to farmers. It is applied to Clovers, and such plants as usually grow in pastures, and not strictly Gramina.].

Under this term are included such plants as are sown for fodder, either with a view to form permanent pastures when mixed with the gra.s.ses, or as intermediate crops on arable land. In those cases they are usually sown with a spring crop of Oats or Barley, and the artificial gra.s.ses are protected after the harvest by the stubble left on the ground, affording the succeeding season a valuable crop, either for pasturage or hay.

40. ACHILLEA Millefolium. YARROW.--This has been much recommended for sheep feed; but I observe it is frequently left untouched by them if other green herbage is found on the land. It will thrive in almost any soil, but succeeds best in good loam. The seed used is about twelve pounds per acre.

41. ANTHYLLIS vulneraria. KIDNEY VETCH.--This plant is not in cultivation, but it has been noticed that where it grows naturally the cows produce better milk and in greater quant.i.ty. It grows best in calcareous soils: the seeds are large, and easily collected. This plant well deserves attention.

42. CICHORIUM Intybus. CICHORY, or BLUE SUCCORY.-Much has been said of the good properties of this plant; and if it has them to the full extent mentioned by different authors, I wonder there is not little else than Cichory grown in this country. It is very prolific, and will grow extremely quick after the scythe during the summer months: but I fear, from the observations I have made, that it does not possess the fattening quality it is said to have. The plant is so extremely bitter, that although cattle may be inclined to feed on it early in the spring, yet as the season advances and other herbage more palatable is to be met with, it is left with its beautiful blue flowers and broad foliage to rob the soil and adorn our fields, to the regret of the farmer. It grows wild in great abundance in Battersea fields, where my late friend Mr.

Curtis used ludicrously to say that bad husbandry was exhibited to perfection. This plant is there continually seen in the greatest abundance, where the ground has not been lately disturbed, even under the noses of all the half-starved cattle of that neighbourhood that are turned in during the autumn.

The root dried and ground to a powder will improve Coffee, and is frequently drunk therewith, especially in Germany, where it is prepared in cakes and sold for that purpose.

43. HEDYSARUM On.o.brychis. SAINT-FOIN.--This is certainly one of the most useful plants of this tribe, and in the south of England is the life and support of the upland farmer: in such places it is the princ.i.p.al fodder, both green and in hay, for all his stock. I have not observed it to be cultivated in Worcestershire or Herefordshire, where there appears to be much land that would grow it, and which is under much inferior crops.

The seed sown is about four bushels per acre. A mistake is often made in mentioning this plant. The newspapers, in quoting prices from Mark Lane, call it Cinquefoil, a very different plant, (Potentilla) of rather a noxious quality. See Gleanings on Works of Agriculture and Gardening, p.

88, where a curious blunder occurs of this kind.

44. LATHYRUS pratensis. MEADOW VETCHLING.--Abounds much in our natural meadows, particularly in the best loamy soils, where it is very productive and nutritious. It is not in cultivation, for the seeds do not readily vegetate; a circ.u.mstance much to be regretted, but unfortunately the case with several of our other Tares, which would otherwise be a great acquisition to our graziers.

45. LOTUS corniculatus. BIRD'S-FOOT-LOTUS.--There are several varieties of this plant; one growing on very dry chalky soils, and which in such places helps to make a good turf, and is much relished by cattle. The other varieties grow in marshy land, and make much larger plants than the other. Here it is also much eaten; and I have also noticed it in hay, where it appears to be a good ingredient. As it thus appears to grow in any situation, there is no doubt, if the seeds were collected, that it might be cultivated with ease, and turn to good account in such land as is too light for Clover. In wet and boggy situations it becomes very hairy, and in this state its appearance is very different from that which it has when growing in chalk, where it is perfectly smooth.

This plant should not be overlooked by the experimental farmer.

It is very highly spoken of in Dr. Anderson's Essays on Agriculture, under the mistaken name of Astragalus glycophyllos, p. 489; but a truly practical account is given of it by Ellis in his Husbandry, p. 89, by the old name Lady-Finger-Gra.s.s.

46. MEDICAGO falcata. YELLOW MEDIC.--Is nearly allied to Lucerne, and is equally good for fodder; it will grow on land that is very dry, and hence is likely to become a most useful plant; its culture has, however, been tried but partially. Some experiments were made with this plant by Thomas Le Blanc, Esq., in Suffolk, which are recorded by Professor Martyn. Martyn's Miller's Dict. art. Medicago.

47. MEDICAGO polymorpha. VARIABLE MEDIC.--This is also a plant much relished by cattle, but is not in cultivation: it is an annual, and perhaps inferior in many respects to the Nonsuch, which it in some measure resembles. There are many varieties of this plant cultivated in flower gardens on account of the curious shapes of the seed-pods, some having a distant resemblance to snails' horns, cater-pillars, &c. under which names they are sold in the seed-shops. It grows in sandy hilly soils; the wild kind has flat pods.

48. MEDICAGO sativa. LUCERNE.--Too much cannot be said in praise of this most useful perennial plant: it is every thing the farmer can wish for, excepting that it will not grow without proper culture. It should be drilled at eighteen inches distance, and kept constantly hoed all summer, have a large coat of manure in winter, and be dug into the ground between the drills. Six or seven pounds of seed will sow an acre in this mode.

I have known Lucerne sown with Gra.s.s and Clover for forming meadow land; but as it does not thrive well when enc.u.mbered with other plants, I see no good derived from this practice. No plant requires, or in fact deserves, better cultivation than this, and few plants yield less if badly managed.

49. MEDICAGO lupulina. TREFOIL, or NONSUCH.--A biennial plant, very usefully cultivated with Rye-gra.s.s and Clover for forming artificial meadows. Trefoil when left on the ground will seed, and these will readily grow and renew the plant successively; which has caused some persons to suppose it to be perennial. About eight or ten pounds of seed are usually sown with six or eight pecks of Rye-gra.s.s for an acre, under a crop of Barley or Oats.