Though much has lately been written in the 'Journal of Botany' upon this plant, the famous Tussock Grass of the Falkland Islands, it appears advisable to sum up here the principal facts connected with its history.
Commerson was doubtless the discoverer of it in the Strait of Magalhaens, in 1767, and it has been gathered in Fuegia by several succeeding voyagers ; but as it nowhere forms so conspicuous a feature as in the Falkland Islands, it is most appropriately considered in reference to them alone.
A French colony was established on the Falklands, by Admiral Bougainville, in 1766, when cattle and horses were landed, which, no doubt, soon manifested a predilection for this noble grass. Pernetty, the historiographer of the Voyage, in describing the remarkable plants of those Islands, alludes particularly to it under the name of "Glayeul"; but it was not until the recent colonization of the Falklands by the British that attention was particularly directed to the Tussock, in consequence of accounts forwarded to the Colonial Office by Governor Moody, and to the Admiralty by the Antarctic Expedition.
The peculiar mode of growth of Dactylis cæspitosa enables it to thrive in pure sand, and near the sea, where it has the benefit of an atmosphere loaded with moisture, of soil enriched by decaying sea-weeds, of manure, which is composed in the Falkland Islands of an abundant supply of animal matter in the form of Guano, and of the excrements of various birds, who deposit their eggs, rear their young, and find a habitation amongst the groves of Tussock. Its general locality is on the edges of those peat-bogs which approach the shore, when it contributes considerably to the formation of peat. Though not universal along the coast of these Islands, the quantity is still prodigious, for it is always a gregarious grass, extending in patches sometimes for nearly a mile, but seldom seen except within the influence of the sea air. This predilection for the ocean does not arise from an incapacity to grow and thrive except close to the salt water, but because other plants, not suited to the sea-shore, already cover the ground in more inland localities, and prevail over it: I have seen the Tussock on inaccessible cliffs in the interior, having been brought there by the birds and afterwards manured by them; and, when cultivated, it thrives both in the Falklands and in England, far from the sea.
I know of no grass likely to yield nearly so great an amount of nourishment as the Tussock, when thoroughly established; in proof of which I quote my friend Governor Moody's printed report, for the truth of which I can vouch, both from my own experience and from his having kindly given me ample means for judging of the correctness of his interesting and useful observations, when drawing up the report from which the following extract is made.
"During several long rides into the country I have always found the Tussock flourishing most rigorously in spots exposed to the sea, and on soil unfit for any other plant, viz. the rankest peat-bog, black or red. It is wonderful to observe the beaten foot-paths of the wild cattle and horses, marked like a foot-track across fields in England, extending for miles over barren moor-land, but always terminating in some point or peninsula covered with this favourite fodder; amid which, one is almost certain to meet with solitary old bulls, or perhaps a herd of cattle; very likely, a troop of wild horses, just trotting off as they scent the coming stranger from afar. To cultivate the Tussock grass I should recommend that its seeds be sown in patches, just below the surface of the earth and at distances of about two feet apart ; it must afterwards be weeded out, for it grows very luxuriantly, frequently attaining a height of six or seven feet. It should not be grazed, but cut or reaped in bundles. If cut, it quickly shoots again; but is much injured by grazing; for all animals, especially pigs, tear it up to get at the sweet nutty-flavoured roots. I have not tried how it would be relished if made into hay, but. cattle will eat the dry thatch oft' the roof of a house in winter ; their preference to Tussock grass being so great that they scent it a considerable distance and use every effort to get at it. Some bundles, which had been stacked in the yard at the back of Government House, were quickly detected, and the cattle in the village made, every night, repeated attempts to reach them, which occasioned great trouble to the sentry on duty."
Since the above was written, the Tussock has been used abundantly when made into hay, being preferred by cattle even to the green state of any of the other excellent grasses in the Falklands. Governor Moody informs me that in his garden it grows rapidly and improves by cutting.
