50 



tall 35 to 45 inches high growing, large tufts and deep roots forming 

 grass with an abundance of rather broad leaves and of great agricul- 

 tural and nutritive value. Of the 5 most valuable upper-grasses for 

 permanent pasture, viz Alopecurus pratensis (Meadow 

 Foxtail), Avena elatior (Tall Oat-grass), Festuca elatior 

 (Tall Fescue^, Festuca pratensis (Meadow Fescue) and 

 Dactylis glomerata (Orchard-grass), the latter is considered 

 by the majority of the experienced seedsmen and farmers to deserve 

 the first place, so that in composing their mixtures, it carries the 

 greatest proportion of these upper-grasses in such mixtures. 



It certainly deserves a foremost place there on account not only 

 of its great productivity and great agricultural and nutritive value, 

 but also for this reason, that of the 5 varieties named above, it 

 is the one which better than any of them thrives well in nearly 

 all sorts of climates and soils. In that respect it leaves far behind 

 it every-one of them. Place it in a heavy-clay, or in a light-sandy; 

 in a moist or in a dry soil, or even on the slopes of railway- or 

 other embankments, it will thrive in either of them. It dislikes 

 marshy tracts of land only. Yet, we think, it should be treated a 

 bit circumspectly! 



As said before, it is a grass of great nutritive value and of great 

 productiviness, but its stalk has a tendency of going rather hard 

 at maturity. For that reason, meadows which contain a large pro- 

 portion of it should be stocked well, if they serve for grazing- 

 purposes; or they should be mown early, not later than when the 

 plants are flowering, if destined for hay-making. In the first case, 

 the greater number of stock will keep the grass short and be 

 compelled to eat the stalks when these are young and tender, thus 

 preventing same from shooting forth too robustly and going hard; 

 and in the second place the early cutting, although producing less 

 in quantity, will have the effect of turning into hay the grass, 

 which till then has all the softness and tenderness that can rea- 

 sonably be desired. Moreover, although the bulk may be somewhat 

 less then, the greater nutritive value the hay contains when mown 

 early, will easily make up for the smaller quantity. It is this habit 

 of rather rough-growing and becoming too hard, which keeps many 

 farmers and seedsmen from composing their mixtures of it in too 

 great a proportion, and makes them feel more for Festuca 

 pratensis (Meadow Fescue) and Festuca elatior (Tall 

 Fescue), which varieties are not so much subject to that habit. 

 This is, of course, a question of personal appreciation. But this 



