HOW TO GROW GOOD GRASSES. 



65 



sence is destructive to good pastures : it may, how- 

 ever, be encouraged as a rough growth in its indicated 

 habitats. 



Sheep's Eescue {Festuca 

 ovina, fig. 22) may he 

 taken as the type of the 

 small-leaved fescues. It 

 is a native of our downs, 

 and forms a large propor- 

 tion of the sweet down 

 sheep - pastures. It is 

 known by its fine leaves, 

 which come up imme- 

 diately after the closest 

 feeding; and if its quan- 

 tity equalled its quality, 

 it would he even more 

 valuable than it is. A 

 larger form, the Hard 

 Fescue (F. diiriuscula), is 

 common to sound mea- 

 dows and the hill valleys. 

 This has much the same 

 properties as the former, 



Fi<j. 22. Sheep's Fescue. 



but it is taller, with longer and broader leaves. This 

 should always be encouraged, and in laying down 

 grass for permanent pasture, it should be plentifully 

 added to the seed mixture. 



The Downy Wild Oat (Avena pubescens, fig. 23) is 

 a common grass on thin calcareous soils. As it is 

 very light in structure, and yields but little grass, it 

 is not worth much as a first-rate pasture plant, — and 

 indeed it would scarcely prefer to grow on them. 



There is, however, a smaller-flowered species, the 



