140 P. SEROTINA, E., FOWL MEADOW GRASS. 



" It is certain that cows that feed upon it, both in pasture and 

 in hay, give more milk and keep in better condition than when 

 fed on any other grass. Horses fed on this hay will do as well 

 as when fed on Timothy hay and oats combined. Sheep fatten 

 astonishingly when fed upon it, 



" The crops are remarkably even ; it rarely suffers from exces- 

 sive wetness or dryness. By manuring, we have increased the 

 size of the culms, and caused them to grow two feet high. It is 

 one of the hardiest grasses known. It is, perhaps, rather better 

 suited to moist, gravelly clays. It keeps green even until the 

 heavy frosts of winter. It loses less weight in drying than any 

 other species. Although this grass is spoken of by most writers 

 on the subject in terms of contempt, we must differ very decidedly 

 from them, and adhere to the opinion which we have formed 

 after much observation and experience, that it is one of the most 

 valuable and nutritious of them all." 



Poa serotina, Ehrh. Fowl Meadow Grass, False Red Top. 

 Culms rather weak, 2-3 ft. hi. Leaves narrow, smooth, ligules 

 T 3 ^ in. Panicle, 6-14 in., slender, open, branches mostly 5-nate. 

 Spikelets numerous, acute, short, pedicelled, often purplish. 

 Floral glumes obscurely nerved, webbed at base. 



The name "Fowl" meadow is said to have been applied to 

 this grass because ducks and other wild water birds were supposed 

 to have introduced the grass into a poor low meadow in Dedham, 

 Massachusetts. 



This is a native grass, found on bottom lands in the eastern 

 half of the Northern States. It flowers about the same time as 

 Timothy. It makes a soft, pliable hay of excellent quality. The 

 stems in damp weather branch at the lower joints, and thus the 

 grass inclines to spread. On account of the large top, and the 

 slender stem, this grass when sown alone is rather inclined to 



FIG. 68. 7, Plant of Poa serotina : 2, 3, spikelets ; 4, floral glume. (The first from 

 U. S. Agricultural Report, 2-4, F. L. Scribner.) 



