FAEMEKS' INSTITUTES. 397 



on bottom land, where it grows with red top and fowl meadow grass. A\'c lack 

 definite information about the value of this grass, as is the case with most of 

 our grasses. 



Dadylis ghmerata (orchard grass, or rough cock's-foot), is found all over 

 Europe, and in the adjoining parts of Asia and Africa. It has been introduced 

 into some parts of the United States. It has been grown over a hundred years 

 in England, where it has met with great favor, both for pasture and meadow. 

 To make good pasture it needs cropping often. It is particularly necessary to 

 cut this grass for hay as soon as in flower : as soon as red clover, or sooner. On 

 account of its earliness it is often too ripe before it is cut ; then the grass is con- 

 demned because it does not make good hay. "Where it does well it is just the 

 thing to sow with red clover. I cpiote from a former lecture printed in our last 

 agricultural report : "It starts very soon after l)eing mowed. It is very nutri- 

 tious. Stock like it. It should be sown thickly aiad cut early. It thrives very 

 well in shady places. Its growth in tufts is one objection to it for meadow or 

 lawn. A Mr. Hyde of Massachusetts says, in a recent lecture that he has 

 mowed one piece for eight years, twice a year, and that it is as good as ever. 

 In Kentucky some sow nothing else with clover. "When grazed down and stock are 

 turned off, it will be ready for regrazing in less than one-half the time required 

 for June grass. In summer, he says it will grow more in a day than blue grass 

 will in a week. It has been neglected because it is the fashion to sow timothy 

 and clover. Fashion is as much of a tyrant among farmer as among the ladies, 

 though showing his power in a different mode." 



An eminent farmer of Scotland says : " Cocksfoot is probably the best known 

 and most productive and valuable of our indigenous grasses." My advice is to 

 give it a trial if you have not already done so ; but, according to one author, 

 do not sow it for lawns, because it grows so fast you would be obliged to cut it 

 every morning before breakfast. A Pennsylvania farmer used to say his sheei> 

 might go supporless to bed, but in the morning their breakfast would be already 

 grown for them. This grass is rapidly growing in favor in many parts of the 

 Northern States. Flint says, " It is worthy of a much more extended cultiva- 

 tion among us." The late J. S. Gould, in IS^ew York Agricultural Eeport, says : 

 *'The testimony that has been collected from all parts of the world for two cen- 

 turies past establishes the place of this species among the very best of our forage 

 grasses, and we have not the shadow of a doubt that the interests of our graziers 

 and dairymen would be greatly promoted by its more extended cultivation." 



Poa serotina (fowl meadow grass, false red-top, late poa, swamp wire 

 grass). This is a tall, slender grass, growing along our river bottoms with red- 

 top. It is of most excellent quality for hay and pasture, though its aftermath 

 is of slow growth when compared with some others. "Unlike most grasses, its 

 stem remains green and retains its nutritive properties for a long time after 

 going to seed. On this account you can cut it whenever you get ready. It does 

 not stand up well unless sown with blue joint or some others with stout stems. 



Poa 2)ratensis has a multitude of common names such as Kentucky blue 

 grass, June grass, smooth stalked meadow grass, green meadow grass, spear 

 grass. No grass in this country plays so important a part in our best pastures. 

 It varies much in size and texture, and in color from green to purple and red. 

 It abounds in the famous pastures of Kentucky, where it generally grows rather 

 larger than in our cooler climate. It always abounds in the regions where the 

 best butter and cheese is made. "It is not so often sown as some others, but 

 works its way into pastures with wonderful rapidity, and then holds its own, 

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