230 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



small quantities in mixtures with other grasses because 

 of the sweet odor it imparts to hay. It is never sown alone 

 except in experimental work. Vianne in France records 

 hay yields of 1760 to 2640 pounds an acre, but this must 

 be far above what can ordinarily be expected. The seed 

 is gathered mainly in Germany. At the Zurich Seed 

 Control Station, the average purity of numerous samples 

 was found to be about 92 per cent and the average viability 

 52 per cent. If sown pure, about 20 pounds of such seed 

 are needed to the acre. 



REED CANARY-GRASS (Pholaris arundinacea) 



271. Botany and agricultural history. Reed canary- 

 grass is native to the temperate portions of Europe, Asia 

 and .North America. It grows naturally in wet soils, 

 especially river bottoms and lake shores, where it is subject 

 to periods of inundation. No botanical varieties have 

 been named except the variegated " ribbon grass " of 

 the gardens (P. arundinacea picta). The grass is, how- 

 ever, decidedly variable, about ten strains having been 

 grown for several years at Arlington Farm, Virginia. The 

 strains differ in size, coarseness, earliness, breadth of leaves 

 and other characters, but all shatter their seeds readily. 



It was first cultivated in England before 1824 and in 

 Germany about 1850. It has never been much used in 

 America, but is cut for hay where it occurs naturally. 



272. Characteristics. Reed canary-grass is a long- 

 lived, rather coarse perennial grass. It produces numer- 

 ous short extravaginal stolons, which at the tip develop 

 into upright culms. Each plant finally forms a rather 

 dense tussock, one to two feet in diameter. The culms 

 are perfectly erect, usually about four to six feet high but 

 often taller, and so stout that they never lodge. 



