ALOPECURUS. 



ply of nourishment from the soil, the produce 

 stands thinner and proves less weighty than 

 the crops afforded by that variety. It flowers 

 in April or early in May, and continues to pro- 

 duce flowering culms until the autumn. 



Alopecurut tndbotut gtnicuJatut. Bulbous- 

 rooted, knee-jointed, foxtail-grass. The. pro- ! 

 duce and nutritive powers of this perennial ! 

 pr;i>s are so inconsiderable as to justify a con- 1 

 elusion that it is comparatively of no use to | 

 the agriculturist. I have found it but seldom 

 in a wild state. It grows on a soil of a drier 

 nature than the fibrous-rooted variety, to be 

 spoken of hereafter. When raised from seed 

 on a moist soil, it still retains the bulbous root, 

 which goes the length to prove, that if it is not 

 a distinct species, it is at least a permanent 

 variety. 



Alopecurus geniculatus. Knee-jointed, foxtail- 

 grass. There are two vari<-tif- of this species 

 of foxtail-grass : the present, which is by far 

 the more common, is distinguished from the 

 other by its fibrous root and greater size ; the 

 less common variety has a bulbous root. The 

 A. biil'iosus may be distinguished from the bul- 

 bous-rooted variety of the knee-jointed species, 

 by its upright culms, which want the knee- 

 jointc 1 I'i>nn so conspicuous in the culms of 

 the former. (Sm. Engl. Flnrn.) It is a peren- 

 nial, and grows commonly in surface drains, 

 and at the entrance of cattle ponds, particu- 

 larly where the soil is clayey. It di-s imt 

 appear to be eaten with much relish by either 

 cow*, horses, or sheep. Its n,utritive powers 

 are not considerable, and its sub-aquatic natural 

 place of growth excludes any recommendation 

 of it for cultivation. Flowers in the first 

 week of June, and during the summer. [This 

 - is designated by Professor Dewey as 

 the true foxtail-grass, which in Massachusetts 

 grows in wet, muddy bottoms, flowering in 

 July.] 



Alafiecurus pratensis. Meadow foxtail-grass. 

 [See Plate 5, of PASTI-UK <. .-.] This 



grass is a native of Britain and most parts of 

 Europe, from Italy, through France, Germany, 

 Holland, to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and 

 Russia. 



Under the best management, it does not at- 

 tain to its fullest productive powers from seed 

 till four years; hence it is inferior to the 

 cock's-foot grass for the purposes of ultimate 

 cropping, and to many other grasses besides. 

 The herbage, however, contains more nutritive 

 matter than that of the cock's-foot, though the 

 weight of grass produced in one season is con- 

 siderably less. It thrives well under irrigation, 

 keeping possession of the crowns of the ridges ; 

 and is strictly permanent. Sheep are very 

 fond of it ; when combined with white clover 

 only, the second season on a sandy loam, it is 

 sufficient for the support of five couple of ewes 

 and lambs per acre. As it only thrives in per- 

 fection on lands of an intermediate quality as 

 to moisture and dryness, and also being some- 

 what longer in attaining to its full productive 

 state than some other grasses, its merits have 

 been misunderstood in many instances ; and 

 in others, as in the alternate husbandry, it has 

 I 'n, by some persons, set aside altogether. 

 10 



ALOPECURUS. 



In many rich natural pastures, it constitutes 

 the principal grass. Though not so wel, 

 adapted, therefore, for the alternate husbandry, 

 it. is one of the best grasses for permanent pas- 

 ture, and should never form a less proportion, 

 than one-eighth of any admixture of different 

 grasses prepared for that purpose ; its merits 

 demand this, whether in respect to early 

 growth, produce, nutritive qualities, or perma- 

 nency. It has been observed by the Rev. Mr. 

 Swayne, (in his Gramina Fascua, a work 

 which contains much valuable information on 

 the subject of grasses), that nearly two-third 

 of the seed is constantly destroyed by insects 

 according to my experiments, this evil may be 

 almost entirely obviated by suffering the first 

 culms of the season to carry the seed. It flowers 

 in April, May, and June, according as it may 

 have been depastured earlier or later. Seed 

 ripe in June and July, according to the season 

 of tlowering. The meadow-foxtail constitutes 

 part of the produce of all the richest pastures 

 I have examined in. Lincolnshire, Devonshire, 

 and in the vale of Aylesbury. In Mr. West- 

 car's celebrated pastures at Creslew I found it 

 more prevalent than in those of Devonshire 

 and Lincolnshire. 



Experiments tend to prove that there is 

 nearly three-fourths of produce greater from a 

 loam than from a silicious sandy soil, 

 and that the grass from the latter soil is of 

 comparatively less value in the proportion of 

 3 to 2. The culms produced on the sandy 

 soil are deficient in number, and in every re- 

 spect smaller than those from the clayey loam ; 

 which satisfactorily accounts for the difference 

 in the quantity of nutritive matter afforded 

 by equal quantities of the grass. It is not the 

 strength and rankness of the grass that indi- 

 cates the fitness of the soil for its growth, but 

 the number and quality of the culms. The 

 proportionate value in which the grass of the 

 latter-math exceeds that of the flowering crop 

 is as 4 to 3 ; a difference which appears extra- 

 ordinary when the quantity of flowering culms 

 is considered. In the Anthuxarithum odoraturn 

 the proportional difference is still greater, the 

 latter-math being to the flowering crop in nu- 

 triment nearly as 9 to 4. In the Poa trivialis 

 they are equal ; but in all the later-flowering 

 grasses that have culms resembling tho. e ot 

 the meadow-foxtail and sweet-scented vernal, 

 the greater proportional value is always, on the 

 contrary, found in the grass of the flowering 

 crop. Whatever the cause may be, it is evi- 

 dent that the loss sustained by taking these 

 grasses at the time of flowering is consider 

 able. In ordinary cases, this seldom happens 

 in practice, because these grasses perfect their 

 seed about the season when hay-harvest gene- 

 rally commences, unless where the pasture has 

 been stocked till a late period in the spring, 

 which cannot, in this respect, be productive 

 of any ultimate advantage, but rather loss. 

 The proportional value which the grass, at 

 the time the seed is ripe, bears to that at the 

 time of flowering is as 3 to 2. The superiority 



! of the produce from a light loam over that 



j from a clayey soil is as 4 to 3. 



I Alopecurus Tauntonensis Taunton s meado 



