826 . LESS IMPORTANT MINOR PRODUCE. 



Shade-bearing Grasses. 



Vernal grass . . Antlwxantlium odoratum, L. 



Tufted aira . . . Air a ccespitosa, L. 



Wavy aira . . . Aira flexuosa, L. 



Tall brome . . . Bronius giganteus, L. 



Sheep's fescue . . Festuca ovina, L. 



Reed fescue . . . Festuca sylvatica, Vill. 



Soft holcus . . . Holcus mollis, L. 



Spreading milium . Milium effusum, L. 



Wood poa . . . Poa nemoralis, L. 

 etc., etc. 



When the seed is ripe (which for most grasses is in the latter 

 half of June or July, and for others, in August and September) 

 the collectors walk in lines through extensive grassy areas, grasp 

 a handful of spikelets, cut them off and place them in a bag 

 slung in front, which is emptied from time to time on to a large 

 cloth spread out on the nearest road. The spikelets are then 

 put into sacks for removal and again spread out in sunny places 

 to dry, threshed and sifted. The chief points are to collect only 

 one species at a time and avoid entirely seed of bad species ; in 

 his own interest the forest- owner should pay attention to this. 



The revenue from the collection of grass-seed is sometimes 

 considerable. In the State forests of the Grand Duchy of Hesse 

 the revenues thus obtained in 1873 and 1874 were respectively 

 634 and 494. This covered from one quarter to one-sixth 

 of the cost of re-stocking the annual felling-areas. In 1878 

 50 acres of felling-area in the Forest of Stockstadt, near 

 Aschaffenburg, were leased for this purpose in one year for 31. 

 Forstmeister Urich, at Biiddingen, sows Poa nemoralis in beech 

 felling-areas and on clear-cut areas, in order to produce a crop of 

 valuable grass-seed. The seed of Milium effusum (common in 

 Britain) is used as bird-seed. 



2. Herbage used for Various Purposes. 



Among herbage used for industrial purposes, other than those 

 already described, Car ex Irizoides chiefly deserves mention ; it 

 is used instead of horsehair for stuffing furniture, etc. This 

 sedge is found in Germany on the damp, rich, loamy soil of 



