52 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 
Agrostis vulgaris With. 
Botanical description: This grass has often been confused 
with the preceding one. If differs from Red Top in the following 
essential respects. 
It grows in bunches, owing to the fact that the rootstocks are 
very short and do not produce creeping runners. All the branches 
of the panicle, the main as well as the secondary ones, spread after 
flowering, and as the lower main branches are generally a little 
shorter than the middle ones, the outline of the panicle is more that 
of an egg than of a pyramid. The ligule is extremely short and 
sometimes wanting. > 
Geographical distribution: It is doubtful whether this plant, 
which has the same general geographical distribution in the Old 
World as has Red Top, is indigenous to North America. 
Habitat: It occurs naturally in sandy or gravelly soil and is 
more adapted to dry conditions than is Red Top. 
Agricultural value: There is about the same relation between 
the agricultural value of Agrostis vulgaris and that of Red Top as 
there is between the value of Sheep and Meadow Fescue. In other 
words, Agrostis vulgaris is a rather inferior grass which should not 
be used where more valuable grasses can be grown. The leaves and 
stems being rather short, the former generally crowded near the 
ground, it cannot be grown to advantage for hay. Its chief value 
is as a pasture grass on poor and dry soil. 
Seed: The seed is like that of Red Top, though as a rule a little 
smaller and more yellowish. In many cases, however, it is almost 
impossible to separate the seeds of the two species. 
BLUE-JOINT GRASS (Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx.) Beauv.) 
Seed, Plate 26, Fig. 10. 
Other Latin name: Deyeuxia canadensis Hook. 
Other English names: Small Reed Grass, Sand Grass, Canada Bent- 
grass. 
Botanical description: Blue-joint Grass is perennial with a 
creeping rootstock which sends out brown, scaly, underground 
runners. The runners indicate that the plant does not grow in dense 
