160 JoiKXAL OF TiiK MrrcHP:LL Society [Dec. 



top and blue i>rass appear iu abiiiidanee every spring. For 

 low grounds in this section it is a valuable forage grass and 

 persists nnidi better than in uphmds. 



Ckeki'i.xg BK^'T Grass (Agrostis stolonifera). 



This is probably only a variety of red top, but the two 

 have a very different appearance here. It delights in damp 

 shaded soil and makes a thick fine carpet in such places. It 

 is frequently an ingredient of lawn mixtures, but is good only 

 for a short time except in the wettest places. In Chapel Hill 

 it has formed a fine and permanent turf on the northwest 

 corner of the arl)oretum on the north side of the row of 

 hydrangeas. 



SnEP:p Fescue {Festuca ovina). 



This is a very hardy perennial grass that is very useful 

 for dry sandy and rocky soil where little else will grow, and 

 as our southern lawns are usually subjected to rather rough 

 treatment it is well to include it in the mixtures that we sow. 

 On account of its tufted habit it is not ideal for lawns, but 

 the tufts are not so coarse as those of orchard grass or sweet 

 vernal grass and it is far more hardy than either. The leaves 

 are slender and thread-like and vary much in color, from 

 bright green to a much lighter glaucous green. If lawn mix- 

 tures containing sheep fescue are sown in poor dry soil the 

 fescue will be about all that is left after the first summer. 

 This can be well seen on the terraces by the Chemical build- 

 ing and Davie Hall as well as the mounds around trees near 

 the Alumni Building. It was about the only perennial grass 

 growing spontaneously in the poor gravelly soil at The Rocks 

 before the place was fertilized and sowed with other grasses. 

 It is of very little use as an agricultural grass in this section. 



A more delicate variety of sheep fes3ue (var. capUlata) 

 is rather plentiful in spots in some of our lawns, e. g., the 

 one east of Dr. Manning's on Rosemary Street. 



Red Fescue (Festuca rubra). 



This is much like F. ovina in appearance, but grows 

 somewhat larger and is less variable in color. It is not at all 



