526 The Natural History of British Grasses. 



L. temulentum — locustce equal in length with the glumes. — A. 



The L. j)erenne in its usual form is found almost everywhere, 

 but more especially in good pastures : brought under cultivation 

 as " seeds," it is liable to a great number of variations, especially 

 in size and in a disposition to a greater or less permanency of 

 growth, and hence arise the many names which its varieties are 

 known by in the seed-market. The properties of the true 

 X. joeremLe are such as to render it very valuable to the farmer, 

 as it soon arrives at maturity, yields a good weight to the rick, 

 and in the meadow stands depasturing to any extent, yielding a 

 perennial supply of good succulent leaves, which are readily 

 eaten by stock of all kinds. In arable culture, however, its 

 permanency is most uncertain, as it generally begins to die out, 

 especially after the first hay crop ; and this all the sooner and 

 the more certain in proportion to the longer time the grass is 

 left before being cut. 



The L. Italicum, which is perhaps after all only a variety 

 of the L. perenne, has been much recommended as a self-grass, 

 and particularly for soiling : the reports of its yield under water- 

 ing with sewage manure are almost fabulous ; however, on lime-, 

 stone soils, and on light lands in general, it is now sown as a 

 separate crop, in which case it comes in for pasture in the 

 following spring, in which state it may be continued for one or 

 two years according to circumstances, though it seems to be, 

 strictly speaking, a biennial form. 



These varieties of rye-grass are the only ones usually employed 

 in seeds in this country, and they are either sown by themselves 

 or in company with different trefoils, such as Trifolium pratense, 

 T. medium, T. repens, Medicago lupulina, and others. The 

 principal reasons for its preference, as stated by Sinclair, are the 

 c[uantity of seed which it produces, the readiness with which this 

 can be collected, and the facility with which it vegetates under 

 circumstances of different management. 



L. temuhntum — -drunken darnel — is an agrarian weed, now of 

 comparative rarity, and fortunately so, if the following character 

 of it be true : Sinclair says, " it has from the earliest ages borne 

 the name of drunken darnel, and there can be no doubt of its 

 deleterious qualities, whether in meat or drink." Parnell gives 

 a modified opinion hereupon : he remarks, " the seeds, it is said, 

 when eaten, produce vomiting, purging, violent colic, and death." 

 Linna?us' opinion was, that the seeds, when mixed with bread, 

 produced but little effect unless when eaten hot ; but if malted 

 with barley, the ale soon occasions intoxication. Sir J. E. 

 Smith, in his ' English Flora,' says, " the seeds are of very evil 

 report, for causing intoxication in men, beasts, and birds, and 

 bringin": on fatal convulsions." Hallcr mentions them " as 



