448 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FAKM. 



The Poa nemoralis has a perennial root, which is fibrous or 

 slightly creeping. It grows from 18 inches to 2 feet high. 

 It flowers in the third week of June, and ripens its seed in 

 the last week of July. Its limit of altitude appears to be 

 about 1500 feet above the sea-level. It grows naturally in 

 woods, thickets, shady banks, and Alpine rocks. It is an 

 excellent grass for permanent pasture and lawns ; it affords, 

 too, a fine sward under trees. It can be made to grow freely 

 in exposed situations. Horses, oxen, and sheep are remark- 

 ably fond of its fine, succulent, and nutritive herbage. 



Several varieties of the Poa nemoralis are in cultivation, 

 the chief of which is the Poa nemoralis sempervirens, or Hud- 

 son Bay hay-grass, also known by the name of Poa nervosa. 

 This variety is remarkable for the rapidity with which it grows 

 after being eaten or cut down, as well as by its perpetual 

 verdure. 



It is one of the plants recommended to be sown for perma- 

 nent pasture, for permanent lawn - pasture, for fine lawns, 

 bowling-greens, &c., kept constantly under the scythe, for per- 

 manent pasture and hay in orchards and other grounds much 

 overshadowed by trees, and for pasturage and cover in thick 

 shady woods, in the proportion of from 1 to 2 Ib. of the seeds 

 per imperial acre. A bushel of the seeds averages 15 Ib., and 

 the number of seeds in an ounce comes near to 173,000. 



Poa pratensis. The smooth-stalked meadow-grass obtains 

 from botanists the name Poa pratensis. It is a creeping- 

 rooted perennial, the root being extensively creeping in loose 

 sandy soil. It grows from 1 foot to 15 inches high. It 

 flowers in the first week of June, and ripens its seed in the 

 first week of July. It grows naturally in dry and gravelly 

 soils, rocky places, tops of walls, &c. It is sometimes found at 

 the height of 3000 feet above the sea-level. It is a nutritious 

 and very early grass ; but its creeping roots render it only 



