164 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



ewan. Its wide distribution at so early a date is re- 

 markable, but it is quite certain that the grass is not 

 native. 



Typical Poa compressa bears 2 to 3 leaves on a culm, 

 a panicle about 2 inches long with the spikelets 5- to 8- 

 flowered. It produces abundant rootstocks, and forms 

 a tough sod. The compressed culms are evenly scattered 

 and are remarkable for remaining green long after the 

 seeds have matured. The whole herbage is pale and 

 glaucous. 



154. Seed. Canada blue-grass seed closely resembles 

 that of Kentucky blue-grass, and as it is cheaper, it has 

 been much used to adulterate the latter. As Canada 

 thistles are often present in fields of Canada blue-grass, 

 the presence of the prickles of the thistles is sometimes 

 used to identify the seed, but neither this nor the paler 

 color of the seed is wholly reliable. The best character 

 to distinguish the two seeds is the less prominent veins 

 of the lemma in the Canada blue-grass (Fig. 14). The seed 

 weighs 14 to 24 pounds to the bushel. 



The seed is much cheaper than Kentucky blue-grass 

 seed and much more viable as a rule, the average germina- 

 tion being about 85 per cent. The seed is produced mainly 

 in Ontario and about 650,000 pounds a year were imposed 

 into the United States up to 1909. 



155. Culture. In Ontario, where Canada blue-grass 

 is most abundant, this grass is seldom sown as it usually 

 appears spontaneously. It is often plentiful enough in 

 wheat stubble so that good fall pasturage is afforded. 

 Such stands are often left either to be cut for hay or for 

 seed. 



The yield of hay is not heavy, usually about 1 ton and 

 never more than 1^- tons, but it bears an excellent reputa- 



