STRIPED GRASS. 135 



hairy ; stem round, smooth, erect, from two to seven feet 

 high; leaves five or six in number, broad, lightish-green, 

 acute, harsh, flat-ribbed, central rib the most promi- 

 nent, roughish on both surfaces, edges minutely toothed; 

 smooth, striated sheaths. Flowers in July. It grows 

 on wet grounds by the sides of rivers and standing 

 pools. There are about five hundred thousand grains 

 or seeds of tnis grass to the pound. It may be gathered 

 and sown with winter grain, to be ploughed in as a 

 green manuring. 



A beautiful variety of this species is the RIBBON or 

 STRIPED GRASS of the gardens, familiar to every one. 

 The reed canary grass will bear cutting two or three 

 times in a season, but if not cut early, the foliage is 

 coarse. Cattle are not very fond of it at any stage of 

 its growth ; but if cut early and well cured, they will 

 eat it in the winter, if they can get nothing better. For 

 some experiments with this hay in comparison with 

 others, see page 106. 



This grass is not unfrequently produced by trans- 

 planting the roots of the striped grass into suitable 

 soils. In one instance, within my knowledge, it came 

 in and produced an exceedingly heavy crop, simply from 

 roots of ribbon grass, which had been dug up from a 

 garden and thrown into the brook, to get them out of 

 the way. Several other instances of a similar nature 

 have also come to my notice. One farmer has propa- 

 gated it extensively in his wet meadows by forcing the 

 ripe seed-panicles into the mud with his feet. As the 

 stripe of the ribbon grass is only accidental, dependent 

 on location and soil, it constitutes only a variety of the 

 reed canary grass, and loses the stripe when transferred 

 to a wet and muddy soil. 



The cut, Fig. 118, was made from a specimen too far 

 advanced to show this grass as it ordinarily appears ; 



