IMPKOVED STKAINS OF GBASSES 71 



Until lately most of the English ryegrass and an appreciable 

 proportion of the Italian ryegrass used in Denmark was im- 

 ported from Ireland, and the Irish ryegrass seed was very cheap. 

 But it was inferior to the home grown English ryegrass. This 

 had a germination of 96 to 98 per cent., while that of the Irish 

 seed was 10 to 20 per cent, lower. The Danish strains were 

 also much rnoreresistent to the attack of rust, and yielded about 

 18 cwts. more hay per acre. When Danish farmers grasped 

 this difference in the quality of the seed from Ireland and 

 Denmark, which was pointed out to them in a series of articles 

 by Dorph-Petersen, 1 and later on in the price list of the D. L. F., 

 they showed their appreciation by paying a much higher price 

 for the home grown seed. In 1916 D. L. F. charged the follow- 

 ing prices in the retail trade to farmers : 



For English ryegrass, from Ireland 30s. per cwt. 



Lundbek strain .... 44s. 



For Italian ryegraas, from Ireland 33s. 



D. L. F. strain .... 47s. 



Tystofte 152 55s. 



and notwithstanding these differences in prices, D. L. F. had 

 sold three times as much of home grown English ryegrass seed 

 and six times as much of home grown Italian ryegrass seed as 

 of the Irish seed by the time all the Danish seed had been sold. 

 Different strains of grasses were grown for seed in Denmark. 

 From 1879 to 1907 the yield of hay grown from seed of various 

 strains of clover and grasses from different places of origin had 

 been compared by cultivation at the Experimental Stations of 

 the State, the comparison being between samples of both 

 imported and home grown seed. 2 It had been found that there 

 were in the country several strains yielding better crops than 

 the imported seed, and also that there were considerable differ- 

 ences between the different strains in cultivation. The State 

 Committee on Plant Culture decided in 1908 to arrange for 

 Comparative Cultivations of samples of seed of clover and 

 grasses in a similar manner to that employed for many years 

 with roots, in order to find the best strains in the country, to 

 encourage the production of seed from these, and to weed out 



1 Vort Landbrni?, 1905. 



2 48th Report, Tidsskrift for Landbrugets Planleavl, 17 vol., K0benhavn, 

 1910, p. 181. 



