68 GRASSES OF SCOTLAND. 



from a little beneath the summit. Inner palea membranous, about 

 equal in length to the outer palea, and minutely fringed at the mar- 

 gins. 



The Cock's-Foot Grass, one of the commonest of all grasses, 

 is found in orchards, woods, hedges, and waste places, and is said to 

 have been originally introduced from Virginia by the Society of 

 Arts. It grows most luxuriantly in damp and shady situations. As 

 an agricultural grass, Mr Sinclair states, that it is deserving of parti- 

 cular notice, that the herbage, when suffered to grow rank or old 

 for want of sufficient stocking, contains nearly one-half less nourish- 

 ment than that which is of recent growth. Hence this grass is of more 

 value for pasture than for hay ; yet, even for the latter purpose, it 

 will be found superior to rye-grass {Lolium perenne), and many other 

 grasses. To reap the full benefit of its merits as a pasture grass, it 

 should be kept closely cropped either by cattle or the scythe. Oxen, 

 sheep, and horses eat this grass readily, but dislike it when allowed to 

 grow too coarse. It succeeds best when the subsoil is porous and not 

 stagnant, so that the fibrous root may penetrate to a considerable 

 depth, which causes the plant to be productive in an extraordinary 

 degree, and remains permanent. But when the surface soil is thin, 

 incumbent on tenacious clay, or when the subsoil is retentive of su- 

 perfluous moisture, this grass succeeds imperfectly, and the slender 

 hold that the roots have in such soil renders the plant liable to be 

 drawn out of the ground by the cattle when grazing. The pastures 

 most celebrated for fattening stock in Devonshire, Lincolnshire, and 

 in the vale of Aylesbury, are partly formed of this grass. It is less 

 impoverishing to the soil than the rye-grass. A combination of 

 three parts, cock's-foot, and one part composed of Festuca duriuscula, 

 Bucetum pratense, Poa trivialis, Phleum pratense, and Lolium per- 

 enne will secure the most productive and nutritive pasture in al- 

 ternation with grain crops. 



Dactylis glomerata is common throughout Scotland, England, Ire- 

 land, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Portu- 

 gal, Northern Africa, Russia, and the United States. It is not found 

 in Lapland, or further north than latitude 63. Its limit of altitude 

 seems to be about 1000 feet above the sea- 

 Flowers from June till August 



