430 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



agricultural merits are as yet but little known in this country 

 that on the Continent it is highly prized, being eaten with 

 avidity by all kinds of cattle, though it is not so palatable to 

 horses. Its produce on a clayey soil is reported to exceed 

 that on a heathy soil in the proportion of 25 to 8. It flowers 

 in the third week of June, and ripens its seeds about the end 

 of July. It is found as high as 1500 feet above the sea-level. 

 It is a troublesome weed on cultivated soils, as every bulb forms 

 a distinct plant when separated from its neighbour. It is one 

 of the plants recommended to be sown, in the proportion of 

 from 3 to 5 Ib. of the seeds to the imperial acre, for pasturage 

 and cover in thick shady woods ; and in the proportion of from 

 3 to 4 Ib. for heathy and moory lands, which have been im- 

 proved with a view to their producing better pasturage ; and in 

 the same proportion for warrens or light sandy downs. A 

 bushel of the seeds averages 7 Ib., and the number of seeds in 

 an ounce stands at 21,000. 



Avena. Among the many species of Avena there is one, 

 besides the cereal species, which deserves attention as an agri- 

 cultural grass namely, the Avena flavescens, or yellow oat- 

 grass. It has been sometimes called of late the Trisetu/ni 

 flavescens. It is a fibrous-rooted perennial. It grows from 

 one to two feet high. It flowers in the second week of July, 

 and ripens its seed about the middle of August. It grows in 

 rich dry pastures. It is an early and sweet grass, well suited 

 for light dry soils, but inferior to many grasses in bulk of 

 produce. It grows in almost every kind of soil, from that of 

 the limestone rock to the irrigated meadow, and is always pre- 

 sent in the richest natural pastures. It is most luxuriant in 

 a dry calcareous soil, but does not thrive unless grown along 

 with other grasses. Few grasses are more grateful to sheep. 

 It is hardly found more than 1000 feet above the sea-level. 

 It is among the plants recommended to be sown for permanent 



