OTHER GRASSES OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE 209 



The weight of a bushel ranges from 15 to 30 pounds. 

 One pound contains about 250,000 seeds. 



233. Pasture value. Meadow fescue is better adapted 

 for pasturing than for hay. It begins its growth early 

 in the spring, and continues late in the fall. It is quite 

 as palatable as Kentucky blue-grass, and stockmen in 

 Kansas and Nebraska consider it especially valuable for 

 fattening cattle. 



Meadow fescue is well adapted to growing in mixture 

 with other grasses, especially in moist lands. It should 

 probably be included in such mixtures throughout the 

 timothy region. When grown alone, it endures in Kansas 

 and Nebraska for 6 to 8 years, or, if manured and well 

 cared for, 12 to 15 years. In mixtures it usually maintains 

 itself for about five years, but is at its best the second and 

 third years. 



234. Pests. The only serious enemy that has attacked 

 meadow fescue in America is a rust (Puccinia lolii). 

 This fungus greatly injures the leaves of the aftermath, 

 practically ruining the fall pastures. It also weakens 

 the plants so that but few culms are produced the following 

 season. 



Tall fescue, when growing adjacent to infected meadow 

 fescue, remains almost wholly free from the fungus, but 

 is not entirely immune. 



Strebel states that in Germany meadow fescue from 

 American seed is far more subject to rust than that from 

 German seed. 



235. Hybrids. Festuca elatior is a remarkable grass 

 because of its ability to make hybrids. Natural hybrids 

 with Festuca arundinacea, F. gigantea, Lolium perenne 

 and L. multiflorum have been described. None of these 

 has been utilized agriculturally. 



