52 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



Agrostis vulgaris With. 



Botanical description: This grass has often been confused 

 with the preceding one. It 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 (Calamgrostis canadensis (Michx.) Beauv.) 



Seed, Plate 26, Fig. 10. 



Other Latin name: Deyenxia 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 



