Page:The plains of Long Island.djvu/8

 from the ridge towards the ocean, by a declination so gradual as to be imperceptible. Scarcely a bush or tree interrupts the view. Nature formed it a broad, upland meadow. Its appearance recalls at once the memory of a Western prairie, and the herds of cattle ranging over it, which fancy may readily conceive to be the Buffalo, do not lessen the similitude. These plains are, however, destitute of one embellishment, which communicates to the prairie such exceeding loveliness. The brilliant flowers which at the west spread a gorgeous garniture over the earth and adds so much to the beauty of the scene, is wanting here. This circumstance is probably owing to the severe and continuous cropping for ages of the Hempstead Plains. These plains existed at the first settlement of the Island. They attracted the attention and excited the admiration of the emigrant. Travelers visited them at an early day, and referred to them as among the wonders revealed in the new world. The prairies of the West were then unknown to civilized man. By what agency these plains were produced, with their peculiar features, whether by man or accident, or the caprices of nature, was then, as at this day, a problem that cannot satisfactorily be determined. Some impute them to peculiarities of soil; others to different natural causes, and another class, with a more practical view, refer their existence to fires, continued for ages by the Aborigines, with the purpose of securing early grazing for the deer which thronged the Island. When the causes which created the prairies of Illinois, are revealed, we may look for a solution of this question. All the knowledge we can now attain is, that the grass plain exists—a phenomenon of nature and a miracle of beauty.

These plains are mantled by a rich and heavy growth of grass, which affords pasturage for large numbers of cattle. They were appropriated, and with great convenience and utility, by the settlers at a remote period, for this purpose, and the practice is still continued. They also afforded a valuable resort for procuring hay. Denton, in his account of New York, thus describes them in 1670: "Toward the middle of Long Island lyeth a plain, sixteen miles long and four broad, upon which plain grows very fine grass, that makes excellent good hay, and is very good pasture for sheep and other cattle; where you shall find neither stick nor stone to hinder the horses' heels or endanger them in their races."

Mr. Harold, in a valuable paper he kindly prepared for my use, states that "grass formerly grew on these plains five and six feet high, and is now occasionally found on neglected headlands higher than a four rail fence. The earliest grass (Secretary grass), a short and very fine grass, is much relished by sheep and cattle." The nutritious properties of the herbage growing upon the plains is apparent from the appearance and condition of the cattle which roam upon them.

The turf which covers these plains, by its toughness and tenacity, assimilates to the sward of the western prairies. Two yokes of cattle, or a team of three horses are required to break it up. An immense quantity of vegetable matter, convertible into rich manure must be contained in a turf possessing a volume like this.