68 PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY PASTURES 



The plant is rolled in spring, the crop is cut frequently, and 

 the land broken up in the following spring twelvemonth. 

 Many farmers make it a rule to sow in October, and on 

 warm moist soils crops have sometimes been cut at Christmas, 

 and again in the following April. Such experience, however, 

 is exceptional, but it proves the hardiness and fertiUty of 

 the plant. 



Italian Rye Grass, when out of flower, may be recognised 

 by the same characteristics which distinguish L. perenne, with 

 this difference : in L. perenne the sheath is flat, while in 

 //. italicum the sheath is round. 



For illustration, description, and chemical analysis, see 

 .5,y. Edition. 



PHLEUM PRATENSE 



{Timothy Grass, or Meadow Catstail). 



To see this grass in perfection a visit must be paid to the 

 United States, where it is grown alone, and yields amazing 

 crops of hay, three, four, and in one recorded instance six feet 

 high. In the pastures of that country some of our finer 

 meadow grasses are unknown and Timothy is more highly 

 prized than with us. It is supposed to have been introduced 

 into England for agi'icultural purposes about the middle of the 

 eighteenth century, and is now widely distributed. The plant 

 is perennial and fibrous-rooted, but under certain conditions 

 the root shows a tendency to take a bulbous form. Indeed, 

 the character of the plant varies considerably in different soils 

 and situations. 



Timothy luxuriates in clay districts and on moist soils, and 

 on peat the growth is unsurpassed. This is one of the grasses 

 most certain to grow, and is specially serviceable in the company 

 of Foxtail, because it fills the interval between the first growth 

 and the aftermath of that grass. Another substantial advan- 

 tage is that Timothy attains the height of its productiveness in 



