A:ND OTHER FORAGE PLANTS. 55 



minute and the spears of grass small as fine needles and there- 

 fore unable to get out from under heavy cover. These spears 

 are so small as to be invisible except to close examination and 

 in higher latitudes this condition continues through the first year. 

 Thus some who have sown the blue grass seed, seeing the first 

 year no grass imagine they have been cheated, plant some other 

 crop and probably lose what close inspection would have shown 

 to be a good catch. This, however, is not apt to occur in the 

 southern tier of States as the growth here is more rapid. The 

 sowing mentioned above, made on the 20th. of March, came up 

 promptly and in three months the grass was from six to ten in- 

 ches high. One year here gives a finer growth and show than 

 two in Kentucky or any other State so far north. 



Sown alone 20 to 26 points, that is two bushels, should be 

 used; in mixtures, four to six pounds. 



2. P. ANNUA, Annual Meadow Grass. 



In many parts of the southern States this grass has become 

 naturalized. It is a tender plant, with linear leaves three to 

 six inches long and stems six to ten inches high, blooming in 

 February and March, and through the summer if moist. It is 

 a beautiful grass, but so small that the yield is not large. But 

 it is exceedingly relished by all kinds of cattle and is supposed 

 to have a specially good effect in improving the quality of but- 

 ter. It does not resist the effects of drought as well as other 

 species of this genus. It is so very like blue grass (P. pratense) 

 as to be easily mistaken for it. In some places it is called 

 goose grass. 



3. P. CRIST AT A, six to ten inches high, and 



4. P. FLEXTJOSA, Southern spear grass, with slender stems 

 twelve to eighteen inches high, are southern species growing in 

 dry wooded lands. They have not been tested to ascertain their 

 agricultural value. They bloom respectively in April and May. 



5. P. COMPJIESSA. This is the Blue or Wire grass of the 

 north. It has priority of claim to the name blue grass and 

 justly too as the leaves have a deep bluish green tint. It differs 

 from the Kentuckey blue grass in the deeper tint of the foliage 

 and flattened stems. The stems are decumbent at the base, the 

 middle portion ascending and the upper erect, with panicle 

 dense, contracted at first, but later expanding. It grows one 

 or two feet long and is very hardy, and thrives on poo*r, hard, 

 trodden soils, sandy knolls and rocky places. It is very nutri- 

 tious and greatly relished by all kinds of cattle. Cows fed on 

 it produce very rich milk and finely-flavored butter. Its thick 

 rich turf renders it specially agreeable to sheep and deer and it 

 imparts a delicate flavor to their flesh. 



Its stems retain the deep bluish green color after maturing 

 the seeds. Shrinking less than most other grasses in drying, it 

 makes a very heavy hay in proportion to bulk. Both in Eng- 



