64 



pasture orasses. It requires a good soil containing some lime in order to yield 

 profitable crops. It is largely employed in the Eastern and Middle States as a 

 lawn frass. lor which use it is well adapted. It makes a good, firm sod, and is 

 particularly well suited for turfing the slopes of terraces and embankments, 

 where the soil is good. There are several varieties, which difi'er chiefly in the 

 breadth and length of the leaves, particularly those at the base of the stem. 

 It is not so well adapted for the production of hay as it is for pasturage. It 

 should enter into all mixtiires designed for permanent pasture. The slender 

 stems of this grass attord an excellent material for tlie manufacture of the iiner 

 kinds of Leghorn hats. Good and well-cleaned seed should have 95 per cent 

 purity and 50 per cent germinating power. The pow er of germination, how- 

 ever, is usually much below this figure. When used for lawns, sow at the rate 



of 3 bushels per acre. According to Steb- 

 ler and Schroeter, the seeds should never 

 be covered, but only rolled after sowing, 

 because they germinate better in the light 

 than in darkness. This is the June-grass 

 of the Northern States, Green-grass of 

 rennsylvaiiia, and Smooth-stalked Mead- 

 ow-grass of England. 



No. 208. Poa subaristata Vasey. Vasey's 

 Sj)ear-gra8S. 



A iKiciinial, from central Montana, where it 

 is common on dry hills and mountain 

 sh)pes, forming a large percentage of the 

 grass and supplying good pasturage. It 

 is an excellent species for cultivation in 

 Northern pastures. 



No. 209. Poa trivialis Linn. Ivough-stalked 

 Meadow-grass. 



An erect perennial, 1 to 3 feet high, with an 

 open, spreading panicle, closely related 

 to Kentucky Blue-grass, from Avhich it 

 diflers in having no conspicuous root- 

 stock and the stem distinctly rough below 

 the panicle. It has been cultivated for 

 many years in England, and is now liighly 

 esteemed as an ingredient in mixtures for 

 permanent pastures. It succeeds best 

 where the climate and soil are rather 

 moist and cool, but is not adapted to 

 sandy soil. In northern Italy this grass is known as the "queen of forage 

 plants," but elsewhere, particularly in tliis country, it is not so highly esteemed, 

 its ])rincipal use being to form bottom grass in jieimanent pastnres. Seed of 

 good (juality should have !I5 per cent purity and 50 per cent germination. 

 When sown alone Ih to 2 bushels of 8<!ed are required per acre. 



No. 210. Poa wheeleri Vasey. Wht^eler's Blue-grass. 



A ])erennial native pasture grass that grows on the high plains and on the mountain 

 slopes, lielow timber line, from Colorado northward. It is one of the best graz- 

 ing grasses of the Ifocky Mountains and promises to do well in cultivation. 



No. 211. Pollinia fulva lientli. Sugar-grass. 



A slender or rather stout perennial, 1 to I feet high, with narrow leaves and two 

 to three terminal spike.s, whiih are clothed with brown, silky hairs. It is a 



Fl<i. 7G.. 



-KciiliK-Uy Blue-gra.ss {Poa jira- 

 ieiisix). 



