86 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



Seed: Growing Meadow Fescue for seed is quite a profitable 

 business. The cost of labour is small, as heavy crops can be taken 

 from the same field for at least three years. Besides the value of 

 the seed secured, there is an additional income from the second growth, 

 as it can be pastured without injuring the seed crop the following 

 year, provided the pasturing is not too close or continued too late 

 in the fall. The crop should be cut when the panicles begin to turn 

 brown and the whole field looks like ripening grain. The seed easily 

 shatters out if cut too late, and this tendency makes it necessary to 

 handle the crop very carefully after cutting. What has been said 

 about curing and threshing Orchard Grass seed applies also to 

 Meadow Fescue. 



Quality of seed: Good commercial seed is of a rather dull 

 greyish brown colour. It keeps its vitality for only a comparatively 

 short time; it is not advisable to use seed more than three years old. 

 When sown for seed, ten to fifteen pounds should be used to the acre. 

 The weight per bushel varies from twelve to twenty-six pounds. 



Diseases: Meadow Fescue is sometimes affected by rust. This 

 does not usually appear until the crop is cut for seed, when it may 

 damage the aftermath to such an extent as to spoil not only the 

 pasture but the next year's seed crop, by weakening the plants and 

 preventing them from coming through the winter in good condition. 



TALL FESCUE. 



As stated above, Tall Fescue is closely related to Meadow 

 Fescue and cannot be distinguished from it by any fixed botanical 

 characteristics. It is generally a little taller and somewhat coarser 

 in texture. The second growth is heavier, thus making it a good 

 pasture grass. Investigations in the United States indicate that it 

 is more resistant to rust than is Meadow Fescue. But these advan- 

 tages are offset by its unevenness in maturing, some seeds of a panicle 

 being ripe while others are still soft. It must be cut early to avoid 

 waste, but a great percentage of the seed thus obtained is not ripe 

 and the general quality is rather poor. 



It is ill work fighting against heaven. Certainly not by dint of sowing and planting what he 

 himself desires will he meet the needs of life more fully than by planting and sowing what the earth 

 herself rejoices to bear and nourish on her bosom. Xenophon, The Economist, 434-355 B.C. 



