HAY-TIME 147 



easily left behind, and these sprout again, so that 

 v/hoever undertakes to eradicate Yorkshire Fog, when 

 once it is fairly established, has his work cut out for 

 him. There is another very common Holcus (//". 

 lanatus) which is downy, and sends out no runners. 



The rootstock is the true stem of the grass, and 

 the runners are its branches ; it is these which bear 

 the buds. In summer the grass sends up flowering 

 branches, which are often called stems too, but as 

 these are quite different from the true stem, we want 

 another name for them. Let us call them haulms ; 

 the straw of Wheat, Oats and Barley is made up of 

 these haulms, together with their leaves and flowers. 



The full-grown haulm is built up of lengths of 

 hollow, cylindrical stalk, with knots at the junctions. 

 At each knot is a plate of tissue which interrupts the 

 cavity, and from the same place springs a leaf, which 

 passes up the haulm about as far as to the knot next 

 above, clasping it close all the way. This leaf-sheath 

 ends in a blade, which is usually long, flat, and 

 pointed. The sheath is very often split all along one 

 side, the side opposite to the blade, but in some of our 

 common grasses the sheath is entire, like the barrel of 

 a quill. The leaves stand alternately on opposite sides 

 of the haulm. At the base of the sheath is a leaf- 

 knot, which is sometimes quite distinct from the knot 

 of the haulm itself. Where the sheath and blade of 

 the leaf meet is a transparent scale, the ligule, which 

 ascends for a short distance in close contact with the 

 haulm. It has been conjectured that the ligule 

 prevents rain-water from making its way into the 

 cleft between the sheaf and the haulm. I am not at 



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