MEADOW PLANTS 45 
51. Other meadow-grasses.—Various grasses other 
than the three mentioned are recommended for meadow 
mixtures but none is used to any considerable extent. 
Orchard-grass is a desirable grass, yielding a good crop of 
nutritious hay. The chief objection to it is that it grows 
in heavy tussocks that make an uneven bed for a mowing 
machine. Furthermore the seed is rather expensive. The 
cost of the seed also militates against meadow fescue, 
another good meadow-grass. The prestige of timothy is 
probably one of the reasons why some of the less known 
grasses are not used to a greater extent. Tall meadow 
oat-grass and the two rye-grasses, English and Italian, 
are often recommended for mixtures. Velvet-grass is of 
little value except on sandy land where better grasses 
will not thrive. Other grasses mentioned in seed catalogues 
and occasionally used in mixtures are rough-stalked 
meadow-grass, fowl meadow-grass, crested dog’s-tail, 
sweet vernal-grass, and meadow foxtail. 
It should be added that the two important pasture- 
grasses, blue-grass and Bermuda, are sometimes used for 
hay in the regions where they reach their maximum 
development. Guinea-grass is occasionally used for hay 
in the tropics, for which purpose, because of its numerous 
leafy basal shoots, it is well adapted; but farm practice 
in the warm regions usually calls for a soiling crop rather 
than a hay crop. 
52. Slender wheat-grass.——The only native meadow- 
grass whose seed has become a commercial product is 
slender wheat-grass (Agropyron tenerum). It is a native 
bunch-grass of the western states and is adapted to the 
semi-arid region of the Northwest, where it should form a 
permanent meadow or pasture. It has not been sufficiently 
tested as yet to determine its comparative value. 
