OTHER GRASSES OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE 211 



production are concerned, it is far superior to both meadow 

 fescue and tall fescue, but its lack of palat ability has kept 

 it from being much used. 



PERENNIAL OR ENGLISH RYE-GRASS (Lolium 



238. Name. The name " rye-grass " or " ray- 

 grass," as applied to species of Lolium, did not originate 

 from any fancied resemblance to rye. The name is 

 probably derived from the French appellation for darnel 

 (Lolium temulentum), "fausse ivraye " or "ivrai." From 

 this the English designation was easily derived by abridg- 

 ment into ray or rai = rye. In distinction to Italian 

 rye-grass, it is known either as perennial or English rye- 

 grass. 



239. Agricultural history. Perennial rye-grass was 

 the first of all perennial grasses to be grown in pure cul- 

 tures for forage. According to Sutton it was first mentioned 

 in agricultural literature in England in 1611. Werner 

 states that it was first cultivated by Eustace, who lived 

 in Oxford about 1681. 



Sinclair refers to a mention of its cultivation in Wor- 

 lidge's " Husbandry," published in 1669, but it is not clear 

 that Worlidge really referred to perennial rye-grass. 



240. Botany. Perennial rye-grass occurs naturally 

 in all of temperate Asia and in North Africa. Botanists 

 have distinguished and named about 10 varieties. Hybrids 

 are known with Festuca elatior, Festuca gigantea and 

 Lolium muUiflorum. 



241. Characteristics. This rye-grass is a short-lived, 

 rapid-growing perennial, living only two years on poor 

 lands, but persisting much longer under favorable con- 

 ditions, especially in lawns and pastures. If grown in 

 hay mixtures, it is apt to disappear after the first year, as 



