BLUE-GRASSES 157 



as redtop. It has but little endurance to drought, but 

 even in semi-arid regions, where it is normally burnt brown 

 for two months or more, it promptly recovers with the fall 

 rains. 



It is only fairly well adapted to growing in shade, not 

 being nearly equal in this respect to orchard-grass or 

 red fescue. 



145. Importance. Kentucky blue-grass is of rela- 

 tively small importance in Europe, but in North America 

 it is by far the most important pasture grass and second 

 among grasses in total value only to timothy. In the 

 timothy region, all of the best pastures are wholly or 

 primarily blue-grass, and it is likewise the commonest 

 lawn grass in the same area. 



It is difficult to find a satisfactory explanation for 

 the great importance of this grass and of timothy in 

 America. About all that can be said is that these two 

 grasses are much better adapted to the climatic con- 

 ditions of cold winters and hot, rather dry summers 

 than are any other European grasses used for the same 

 purposes. 



Kentucky blue-grass differs from most humid region 

 grasses in that the old dried or half -dried herbage is readily 

 eaten by animals, in this respect resembling some of the 

 grasses native to arid regions. Late fall or winter pas- 

 turage may thus be secured by permitting the grass to 

 make considerable growth in the fall. 



146. Characteristics. Kentucky blue-grass grows but 

 slowly at first, and even on lawns where it is planted 

 thickly, a good sod is not formed until the second year. 

 It produces abundant short rootstocks, which finally de- 

 velop into upright shoots. The blossoms appear earlier 

 than most other grasses, and blue-grass is peculiar in that 



