84 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



be light and of poor quality. It is safe to let it ripen thoroughly 

 before cutting as the grass holds the seed well. The same methods 

 of harvesting and curing may be- used as for cereals. 



Quality of seed: The seeds are light brown with a character- 

 istic purple tint, almost half an inch long, flat and light. The glume 

 has sometimes a short awn at the top, but as a rule it is awnless 

 and blunt. The seed usually contains a good deal of chaff and broken 

 straw. Good seed weighs fourteen pounds per bushel. 



FIELD BROME GRASS (Bromus arvensis L.) 



Seed, Plate 27, Fig. 21. 



Botanical description: Field Brome Grass is annual, or some- 

 times biennial, with stems one to three feet high, generally standing 

 many together, and with rather broad, soft leaves. The whole 

 plant has a characteristic greyish green colour. It is easily distin- 

 guished from other Brome grasses by the soft hairs covering its 

 lower parts. The panicle is large, spreading even after flowering, 

 and of a characteristic purple tinge. The outer glumes of the flower 

 are provided with long awns; otherwise the spikelets are similar to 

 those of Awnless Brome Grass. 



Geographical distribution: Field Brome Grass is a native of 

 Europe, Siberia and Asia Minor. It has been sparingly introduced 

 into America. 



Habitat: It is found in waste places, along roads and paths, 

 and in fields where it sometimes grows like a weed. 



Agricultural value: Attempts have been made to cultivate 

 this grass. On account of its brief duration, it can be used only 

 in short rotations. It makes rapid growth and gives an abundant 

 yield; for this reason it may be used as a catch crop. Its value for 

 Canada has not been sufficiently tested. 



We make (by Art) in the same Orchards and Gardens, Trees and Flowers to come earlier or later 

 than their seasons, and to come up and bear more speedily then by their natural course they do. We 

 make them also (by Ari) much greater, their nature, and their Fruit greater and sweeter, and of 

 differing taste, smell, colour and figure from their nature; and many of them we so order, that they 

 become oi Medicinal use. We have also means to make divers * * new Plants differing from 

 the Vulgar, and make one Tree or Plant turn into another. — Bacon, New Atlantis, 1676. 



