AGRICULTURAL GRASSES 61 



Gilles, a French agriculturist, the ripe straw left after threshing 

 out the seeds is a better fodder than hay made from the green 

 straw. After giving many thousand trusses of the straw to his 

 horses without other food for several months, he found that 

 they ate it as readily as the finest hay, and that it kept them 

 in high condition.' 



The objection occasionally urged against Rye Grass, that 

 it does not produce an aftermath, only holds good as to starved 

 crops, and on soils which are not adapted to grow the plant. 

 Even the very cheapness of the seed has been given as a reason 

 for not using it. In the best sense of the term Rye Grass is 

 cheap as compared with many natural grasses, but surely this is 

 a special argument in its favour. It is quite true that Festuca 

 pratenms possesses many of its good qualities and excels it in 

 aftermath, but the difference in the price of the two articles is 

 considerable, and the Fescue is distinctly inferior in nutritive 

 qualities, except in its early stage of growth. 



One of the main reasons for including Perennial Rye Grass 

 in mixtures for permanent pastures is its reliability, already 

 alluded to, for ensuring a plant. This is a matter of great 

 importance, for if grasses do not fill the ground in the first 

 season, weeds will inevitably appear. And the Rye Grass 

 yields a bulk of hay during the first two years which could 

 not be obtained without it. Again, Rye Grass fosters the 

 gi'owth of other varieties and aids the general progress and 

 development of such grasses as are slow in coming to maturity. 

 For all these reasons I advocate the use of Perennial Rye 

 Grass seed in prescriptions for permanent pastures. On land 

 which cannot maintain Rye Grass permanently, excellent 

 service will be rendered while it lasts, and the plant will yield 

 up its place when other grasses are sufficiently established 

 to occupy the soil. Meanwhile crops of valuable herbage will 

 be secured. 



Most of the Rye Grass seed sown in England is saved in 

 Scotland and in the North of Ireland, and I have no doubt 



