80 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 
Seed: Growing Meadow Fescue for seed is quite a profitable 
business. The cost of labour is small, as heavy crops can be taken 
from the same field for at least three years. Besides the value of 
the seed secured, there is an additional income from the second growth, 
as it can be pastured without injuring the seed crop the following 
year, provided the pasturing is not too close or continued too late 
in the fall. The crop should be cut when the panicles begin to turn 
brown and the whole field looks like ripening grain. The seed easily 
shatters out if cut too late, and this tendency makes it necessary to 
handle the crop very carefully after cutting. What has been said 
about curing and threshing Orchard Grass seed applies also to 
Meadow Fescue. 
Quality of seed: Good commercial seed is of a rather dull 
greyish brown colour. It keeps its vitality for only a comparatively 
short time; it is not advisable to use seed more than three years old. 
When sown for seed, ten to fifteen pounds should be used to the acre. 
The weight per bushel varies from twelve to twenty-six pounds. 
Diseases: Meadow Fescue is sometimes affected by rust. This 
does not usually appear until the crop is cut for seed, when it may 
damage the aftermath to such an extent as to spoil not only the 
pasture but the next year’s seed crop, by weakening the plants and 
preventing them from coming through the winter in good condition. 
TALL FESCUE. 
As stated above, Tall Fescue is closely related to Meadow 
Fescue and cannot be distinguished from it by any fixed botanical 
characteristics. It is generally a little taller and somewhat coarser 
in texture. The second growth is heavier, thus making it a good 
pasture grass. Investigations in the United States indicate that it 
is more resistant to rust than is Meadow Fescue. But these advan- 
tages are offset by its unevenness in maturing, some seeds of a panicle 
being ripe while others are still soft. It must be cut early to avoid 
waste, but a great percentage of the seed thus obtained is not ripe 
and the general quality is rather poor. 
It is ill work fighting against heaven. Certainly not by dint of sowing and planting what he 
himself desires will he meet the needs of life more fully than by planting and sowing what the earth 
herself rejoices to bear and nourish on her bosom.—Xenophon, The Economist, 434-355 B.C. 
