AGRICULTURAL GRASSES 63 



Exceptionally heavy dressings of nitrogenous manures 

 applied to Rye Grass when in mixture with other varieties for 

 a hay crop are inimical to its existence, because the manures 

 enable coarse gi-asses hke Cocksfoot to obtain the ascendency. 

 But when Rye Grass is sown alone, or mixed with Broad Clover 

 only, the crop is greatly increased by the application of manures, 

 proving that the plant has no inherent objection to them. 

 Both at Chiswick where Rye Grass was gi'own alone, and at 

 Rothamsted where it formed only a portion of the herbage, 

 moderate doses of nitrate of soda had a marked effect upon its 

 gro\\i:h, and the fact was especially noticeable that the nitrate 

 produced an immense amount of root-fibre as well as leafy herb- 

 age. It is also interesting to find that at Rothamsted, after 

 decreasing for three years, Rye Grass sUghtly increased in pro- 

 portion to the other suiTOunding grasses, thus affording evidence 

 of its perennial character. The ammonia salts which proved so 

 powerful a stimulant to some of the coarser gi-asses did not 

 benefit Perennial Rye Grass sufficiently to enable it to hold 

 its position against them. On the nitrate plots only was its 

 position maintained. At Kidmore the plant flourished in the 

 bone plots. 



The highly glazed leaves of L. pcrcnne, together with the 

 prominent mid-rib, are sufficient to distinguish it at all seasons 

 of the year. The leaf is naiTow-tipped, has an obtuse hgule, 

 surrounded by an auricle or collar- like portion of the blade ; 

 whilst the younger leaves are folded throughout then* length 

 on the mid-rib when emerging from the flat purple sheath. 



The illustration, botanical description, and chemical 

 analysis of Sutton's Perennial Rye Grass — a branching variety, 

 considerably dwarfer than Pacey's, and still more pereimial in 

 character — are in the 5*. Edition. 



