MEADOW PLANTS ' 45 



51. Other meadow-grasses. — Various grasses other 

 than the three mentioned are recommended for meadow 

 mixtures but none is used to any considerable extent. 

 Orchard-grass is a desirable grass, yielding a good crop of 

 nutritious hay. The chief objection to it is that it grows 

 in heavy tussocks that make an uneven bed for a mowing 

 machine. Furthermore the seed is rather expensive. The 

 cost of the seed also militates against meadow fescue, 

 another good meadow-grass. The prestige of timothy is 

 probably one of the reasons why some of the less known 

 grasses are not used to a greater extent. Tall meadow 

 oat-grass and the two rye-grasses, English and Italian, 

 are often recommended for mixtures. Velvet-grass is of 

 little value except on sandy land where better grasses 

 will not thrive. Other grasses mentioned in seed catalogues 

 and occasionally used in mixtures are rough-stalked 

 meadow-grass, fowl meadow-grass, crested dog's-tail, 

 sweet vernal-grass, and meadow foxtail. 



It should be added that the two important pasture- 

 grasses, blue-grass and Bermuda, are sometimes used for 

 hay in the regions where they reach their maximum 

 development. Guinea-grass is occasionally used for hay 

 in the tropics, for which purpose, because of its numerous 

 leafy basal shoots, it is well adapted; but farm practice 

 in the warm regions usually calls for a soiling crop rather 

 than a hay crop. 



52. Slender wheat-grass. — The only native meadow- 

 grass whose seed has become a commercial product is 

 slender wheat-grass (Agropyron tenerum). It is a native 

 bunch-grass of the western states and is adapted to the 

 semi-arid region of the Northwest, where it should form a 

 permanent meadow or pasture. It has not been sufficiently 

 tested as yet to determine its comparative value. . 



