North Wales Gazette

FLORIN GRASS. (Concluded, from MS. in our possession.) LETTER I. Dear Sir, HOT, Feb. 9, 1810. J Jos no time in replying to your letter,, hich I received in Armagh this day, as 1 consider pne part of it as of much importance. First as to the specimens you send, the large package of grass so common as you say about Chester, and proirmm-ced to he squitch, pre- nounce os positively to be pure Fiorin, and you may tell yonrcolllllrymen from me, that they have not a square perch of green ground in their island, which is not full of it, as they shall soon know, much to their advantage. The second parcel No. I, came to me in so defaced a state, from the bottom of your pocket, that it has not a characteristic mark left, were I to judge of from what see, 1 would pronounce it to be a little miserable aquatic 1 know well; but you say" it runs precisely as Fiorin does, supports itself by its joint." Your description suits fiorin alone; for my little reptile neither runs, nor has joints, you must get me a belter specimen. You be(r hir(i for some real (lonfccle florin, and shall have it raised for you to-morrow in a most satislactory slile. y To wit, a sod from my uniform mendow with the strings actually growing on it; thus -you have an aliquot part of the whole meadow (ior selection is. impossible), and from what a pari produces you may form some judgment upon tiie immense produce of the whole. You will also see the diilcrence between the starved specimen you sent me, and rich cul- tivated fiorin v'.u will see what 1 have been making hay of through the winter, and also the stile ot food l noW cut dally for my milch COWS. J You ask what I have been doing in the fiorin tme this winter; never so busy. A Mr. Alien of Edinburgh much admired niv pOllrush fiorin late in summer, and re- quested a letter on the subject for the Scotch farmers Magazine, I gralified him, and sent you a copy. My old pupil, Ht. Hon. T. Corry, Visited me late in October, and surpi-ized at the suc- cess of my fiorin irrigation, begged an account of it; I consented on condition that he too would print a formal report of my florin pro- ceedings the bargain made, I drew up an epi- tome, printed it (1 send you some copies) and tendered it to Phillips, the Printer, London,he w as glad to print it if I would change the title, but irrigation was quite thread hare, I ix-fused, he then begged something else, and I sent intii a letter addressed to my friend IUr. reenough, member for Gafton, teaching the English how to know, and where to find, no; in at home, and also how to distinguish it from squitch, at the same time threshing well the enemy who abused it; this pamphlet is I suppose for sale in London now. My essay on irrigation is now in the press at Belfast, for myself and friends, not sale; but i stop at the end of the first page of the epitoiiie,, to saveexpeuce 1 shall send you a copy when printed. Sir John Sinclair wrote to me early in May, officially as president of the Board of Agri- culture, requesting fiorin roots and strings at any expeuce, for himself and many members to make experiments on. 1 sent abundance without expence; in October I had a letter from Sir John, slating the wonderful success of his own, and friends experiment s, and announcing his intention of planting with fiorin, an acre he bad tak-eii close to Edinburgh for the pur- pose ot teaching its use to his countrymen. 1 elying upon me for a supply of roots; I was ready, but advised him to look at home under the description I gave him he did so and find- ing abundance, stopped my transmissals. My next intercourse was with the Eari oj Aberdeen, he bad applied for strings in Sept. 1808, and I had sent him too under his (-oil, mou frank; be now gives me a most incre- dible account of he has propagated from 'hem, BEGGING more with instrucuot.s, ali which 1 furnished his lordship with. In the mean time he had got, a copy of the Idler I had written to the Eat i of Koss, M the subject of reclaiming our Irish bogs, Ill." ordship now most earnestly reqiieslcd a similar letter to hnr.seit on the improvement If the Highlands of Scotland. As soon as 1 could I prepared a VERY eiabo- ale one, the receipt of which he has acknow- ledged in the most flattering manner, and "it! my permission, printed for the use of IN fricndsaud neighbours 1 hope to get you a copy—yon see I have not been idle. Stvenna MfM -.z,crcel Yet I am at length overpowered, and in the setter to Mr. Greenotigh, have declined -,it, -tew correspondencies; but as the letter has NO; yet reached the public, I cannot titrl3 con- sider you, or your brother (should he think IN to make any inquiries) included. Tell him from me he need uoi be afraid to defend Fiorin, though you have left him, WHOEVER calls him (i (I FlrMl el in sign is Ir-la < antabitur urbc. When Mr. Phillips's pamphlet shall reach him, he will see that it isadangerous measure to attack the character of my mistress Stolon- if era, I dare say both Ðávies OJ Mr. Don. wish they had not meddled with her. As to my own practices; I made hay ac- cording to my public notice through England and Scotland, the whole winter, mowing re- gularly on the 1st aud 15th of every mouth. 11 I have now standing in the highest preserva tion seven cocks, mowed on the above days, and compleatly established, that (iorin hay is more easily saved in winter, than other hay iu summer, and of far superior quality. The Gentlemen of Dumfries-shire, at very considerable expeuce, sent over an intelligent person to iuspect and report upon my pro- ceedings he pressed to catch me mowing on January 15th, and arrived on the 1-llh, he staid three days, and will publish his report when he gets home in Belfast, en passant, he put a flattering letter on the subject in their newspaper* which I send you. My winter green food.upou which my milch cows are now living, is far more abundant than the produce of any July meadow, less aqueous, and more saccharine; it improves the flavour as well as quality of the milk, I have as much as will last me until MAY, Yours sincerely W. RICHARDSON. Which appeared in our last. III DJEAK SIR, Having in the desultory inclosure replied to most of your questions, I proceed to the most important part of it, the Salt ,Marsh or Mslii- ary of the river Dee; 1200 acres of such; [ground as you describe, with great ease made eighty productive, is little short of a national t, object. The epitome I inclose you, will shew, that I had already taken up the subject of Salt Marshes, which I considered as the best scene I knew for fiorin culture. I have laboured to bring attention upon it. I have had some correspondence with the Earl of Londonderry on the subject of his marsh much more with Lord Rous, who has promised mc, that until June, no beast shall touch the spontaneous herbage growing on his marsh by that time I expect fiorin will have shewn itself in abundance, and pro- bably taken possession. When the gentlemen interested in the DEE marsh, shall once have adjusted their differ- ences with Neptune, and kept himiu order, I pledge myself, that shall it answer your tie- scription, I will, at trifling or no expeuce, make it produce from six to eight tuns to your own acre, of better hay than ever grew in England? or what will probably be more valuable, an inexhaustible stock of winter green food, for the Chester milch cows, from November to May. Should the gentlemen interested, consider my opinion, or advice, likely to be of any use, I shall cbearfuily communicate with your brother, or any of them on the subject. Since I wrote yeslerday, I have found a bunch of fiorin strings hanging in my closet; I had raised them together (without picking them) for a gentleman, who said he would make some one call for them, but neglected. Although they hung there near fourmonths, I expect you will find the principle of vegeta- ble life, still ready for action iu them. Lay one or two of them on the surface of a flower pot, sprinkle them lightly over with rich compost, and I suspect they will still come forward in a hot house. We bave revised your wretched specimen 1 No. 1. in a stronger light, (the sun shining) and with younger eyes, all think they discover fiorin marks, that is joints, and a small green tube. I am inclined a little to alter my yes- terday's opinion and when you send me bet- ter, that is longer specimens, I expect I shall he able to pronounce them fiorin, as well as the larger packet. You say it is without a rival; I think you must mean at this season, for though abund- ant in om salt marshes, it has powerful sum- mer rivals, from which it must be defended. Upon the whole I expect the result will be, that the Dee marsh is jus! like those I am al- ready acquainted with, which nature with a slight, interference on the part of inyn, would rapidly clothe with a more valuable crop than any we could put in. Keep out I he sea on one side,and the trespass ing enemy on the other, what remains to do is a bagatelle attend merely to the rules and periods of fiorin management, and your crops will be immense, and in quality of a value beyond what vou are used to. I car. scarcely expect you will be able to govern the sea III time this season, but from I his minute keep off the land enemy from any part, and I engage to give you (if you follow my directions) a small crop between spring and neap high water marks, this very year, 181.0, a id for ever, without troubling you ior any other manure than water, nor IS ihai indispensible i tins moment have received a letter from my little son YY iliiam, announcing his arrival in Loudon, on his road to Woolwich; lie says, 1 saw the (iorin in the wildest parts in Vt ales, and in Pn::iand it seemed lo be in the greatest luxury I saw the airings 10 aiid I I 1 eel long, anu a great dcai liner, richer, and sweeter, than in Ireland, Your sincere inend, W. RICHARDSON. C'lonftclc, near Koj, Feb, lOLlI, 1810. Specimen of Fibrin Grass. A small sod raised from my uniform fiorin tit selection, as the whuie is the same. From comparison wilh other portions oi meadow I have measured and weighed, i AUOW the crop of htiv would amount toahov' •levcti icre. This field was laid down wiih small expeuce, ivecembrr lSib, 1S07. This is the second crop, as it. properly belongs to 1809. The third crop always improves, for ihough the slrings be sliol-tel., Nct their num- her increases grey ly. Of a fourth year L had but a paich, and that too seemed to improve. From this meadow I now cut daiiy the food for my milch cows. W. RICHARDSON, D. D. May, Ireland, Feb. 10. 1810. The fiorin grass of Ireland, is the red-robin of young in the annals of Agriculture, and is supposed to be Ihe ceiebraf ej Orcheslon grass of England. It is the ugrosu's stolonifera of Lintiffltis; the creeping heitt. rass. Doctor Richardson affirms that it thrives in all soils, high or low, wet or dry; on bare peat moss; oil the How hog, or "n lite pave of a shut-tip turnpike road. The tiorin is best propagated by strewing the stolones, or strings, over the surface of the land, and sprinkling a little earth over them. The seed might be sown, but strings afford a more speedy return; land laid down with them in April,yielding a crop of hay or green food the same season. The creeping bent-grass is known by its creeping stems, putting out roots and produc- ing new piatits by its culm, first prostrate than erect: by its leaves a line broad & more, smooth by the young panicle being contract- ed, but afterwards more expanded. Native of most parts of Europe in moist meadows, flowering from June to August. REPLY to Mil. DONOVAN's ANSWER. -? (Concluded from OlLI" last.) f V HAVING now taken a view of the whole of this very extraordinary production, I shaij return, and tiotice the extract- from the ira veiling note book," being what Mr. Donovan- lays such great stress upon, and is indeed the basis of every thing, except what 1 have al- ready noted, which he styles fact, and which shall determine, and close the investigalion of the evident dereliction, on either part, which shall be placed iu a point of view so distinct, that it must be rendered manifest "who is in Ihe wrong," and whether, or not, I am doomed, according to his threat, to retire with diminished reputation." But, before I enter upon it, let me premise that I solemnly declare, that every assertion, which I shall make, by way of reply to the followingquotations, is pure and slrictTRUTH, I have already dechred the same of my VIN- DICATION, published iu the Gentleman's .'jfa- glline for June 1809, to which, to save rc, petitions, 1 may occasionally refer. I now proceed with what Mr. Donovan terihs an extract from his travelling note book; and which be most audaciously says to be part of a conversation which took place between me and him.—Now, as he states facts in so minutely particular a manner, the reader will excuse my doing so likewise, as far as the periods are worth notice many are not worth either denying or affirming,■ 1 will therefore neither waste my own time, nor intrude on that of my reader,concert.ing them This Extract begins that 1 told him at Beaumaris there was a mistake about the Trifurcllled Hake, which I must explain," it is impossible I should tell him what I never conceived, as I never entertained the ieast doubt, that the Trifurcaled Hake (which I shall henceforward call BATKACHOIDUS tri- furcatus) is a perfectly distinct species. He then gives these as my words. 1, V\ ell. then I took off the skin, and put it between a ''sheet of writing paper, and inclosed it in a small parcel with my drawing, and sent it off by the coach to Mr. Pennant, &c." In Ihe tirsl place, I could not have said that I inclosed it in a small parcel," as 1 know that I sent it in a box, which contained, at the same time, several lesser boxes, and packets, of-specimens of various marine subjects, in natural history, besides Llic jaws and tail of the Beaumaris Shark, "hich last measured between two and three feet.—Then for several reasons I could not tell him that I sent it otf by the coach," as I never sent a parcel by coach, to Mr. Pennant, during his and my acquaintance. Besides there is a trifling ana- chronism, which 1 could scarcely be guilty of; coach-conveyance of parcels was, very little, y I if at all, known, (excepting those of' file pas sengers) in this country, at the time this bux was sent; I know the year and month one coach only t ra veiled through the island at that time, and that had been set up not a long lime before. The mail coach did not run within twelve years after that period. But, exclusive of all this, Air Pennant and I had a much more convenient mode of nego- tiating such concerns; a weekly carrier tra- Velied, at that time, from Beaumaris, where I lived, to Chester, who left at an appointed house, by the road-side, and within a conve- nient distance of Mr. P-'s residence, what I might have to send him the same carrier, in his return, took Y*-hai he found for me, books, &(.. and brought them to my house.—" The jolting of the coach, from the roughness of the road, and the skin getting thereby damag- ed," would raise a blush in a countenance susceptible of such a token of grace, and therefore require no farther comment.—Then Mr. ^Pennant not being satisfied wilh mJ figure,GAVE the skin to his draughtsman lo "make another."—II is evident that Air. P. was satisfied with my figure, as it is engraven m pi. XXXiI, the upper figure. Then I de- clare that Mr. P. HAD NO concern in the other drawing, farther than permiitmg his artist to make that at my request, as I wished it done, to convey an idea of the depth, as my own drawing did of the breadth of the fish. III, as to what follows, viz. [)IV S!ty if)', tliit I was vexed at its being given 011 my autho- rity, AS a new discovery -and UNIT Air. Pennant should have consulted me respecl- iag the ventral fins ;—and that I found outl hat it must be the Tinea JWurina, &c," I reply, that this latter assertion has been SLIL-iy AUSIYJRED, no) only under I he first urlicic of this exfracl, but likewise in my reply above to ihe stern, UNANSWERABLE MRMORIAL, &- Then so far was from being vexed at its being giver., on my authority, as a new disco- very," in that very respectable work, the IIIIITISH Zoo LOOT,* that it WAS highly grati- fying to ME, as it was but the second tirpe (the first occurs likewise in the same volume) that my niitiie appeared AMONG literati; and 101 aught t then flattered myself, it might nave been the last. Anti since that time, 1 space of forty years, 110 author 01 re- pllte has oft' TED to damp the satisfaction I felt. Let ME here observe, N:»at my acquain- fance comincuccd with Mr. Pennaut but the SPRMG of the yenr, in which I sent him the account, of thts subject, and the Sqtialtts mo- nensis that was a very young Zoologist, alld possessed of very few means of informa- tion—-many years younger than'him—then at an infinite distance beneath him ill respect of uatural and acquired endowments, and I may with truth add, I am naturally shy and diffi- dent — under these circumstances, it were most improbable to suppose that I should have the VANITY, indeed I may say presump- tion, lo tell Mr. P. that lie should have consulted me" respecting any particulars, wheu lie had the subject before him; or that" I should have remonstrated with him:" nor could I be so absurd, as to beg; that lie would correct the mistake," which did not exist then as to "his promising to do so, "and not keeping ins word, as. on furilwf "coilideration, itwotJld only injure his book HI" it istoo notorious,too flagrant, to merit a formal reply and is to be equalled only by what follows "that the mistake" (the mistake, let me again repeat, which I never suspected) can 011 iy be corrected by myself, or through me, as Mr Pennant and Mr. Griffith the artist, are both dead 111"- rhe death of ivir. Griffith is an event which I never heard of, till 1 read it in Mr. Donovan's Answer, that gentleman being alive, and 1 hope in health in the year eighteen hundred and nine.T My HAVING, BEEN asked qtiesti- oils about this, and- oilier things, in the work "—" my name being called in ques- tion, about mistakes; and my wish to hav- ing them ex-plained, &c. as well as my reo ferring to Gmelin, declare to merit the same decree OF credibility, with WHAT goes before; they proceed from the same nrolifick source, in the same strain ot infamous inven- tion; till to the last sentence, in which there may be some truth but even here the cloven fool again appears: I could not say that I never alfended to Natural history, unless a friend called on me," nor did I use the harsh word Madness." 1 might, in couise of con versation, have said to Mr. Donovan, what I have said to several of my friends, Ihat, at repeated intervals of my life, for reisoiis I had been less attentive to Natural HISTORY; but. that a letter, from a friend or acquaint- ance, acted as a stimulus, and excited again the pleasing I)Iii-t,iizy.-A s a farther confuta- tion of Ihe above quotations, 1 beg lo refer the candid reader to my I ion in the Gentleman's Magazine of June, IS09, page 516. &E. When I take a review of this singular fabri- t, cation throughout, which covers liltle less than ten pages, and particularly the train of falshood, of which this Extract consists, from J the mistake" which NEVER existed, to the mutilation," near forty years ago, 01 aspeci-, men in Natural II istory which exists in perfect preservation at this day and t.he death" (above ten years ago) of a person this day liv mg, and so on, to my litatliles,,i ;and when I consider the consummate audacity of