ROUGH COCK'S-FOOT GRASS. 433 



imperial acre. A bushel of the seeds averages 26 lb., and the 

 number of seeds in an ounce is about 28,000. 



Dactylis. Dactylis is the genus to which the well-known 

 grass, common rough cock's-foot, or orchard grass, is referred 

 under the long-established name Dactylis glomerata. It is a 

 fibrous-rooted perennial. It grows to the height of two feet 

 or more. It flowers from June to August. Its limit of alti- 

 tude does not exceed 1000 feet above the level of the sea. 



It is one of the commonest grasses in this country. It is 

 found in orchards, woods, hedges, and waste places. It grows 

 most luxuriantly in damp and shady situations. It is one of 

 the best and most productive pasture grasses. To follow Mr 

 Sinclair on this grass, it deserves particular attention that the 

 herbage, when suffered to grow rank or old for want of suffi- 

 cient stocking, contains nearly one-half less nourishment than 

 that which is of recent growth. 



This grass, therefore, he says, 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 obtain the full benefit of this plant as a pasture-grass, it 

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

 Oxen, sheep, and horses eat this grass with avidity, but show 

 a distaste for it when it is allowed to grow rank. It thrives 

 best where the subsoil is porous and not stagnant, so that the 

 fibrous root may extend to a considerable depth, by which ex- 

 traordinary productiveness and permanence is given to the 

 grass. But when the surface soil is thin, incumbent on tena- 

 cious clay, or when the subsoil is retentive of superfluous 

 moisture, this grass succeeds imperfectly, and the slender hold 

 such soil affords to the roots 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 



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