6G 



HOW TO GllOW GOOD GRASSES. 



Avena flavescens (Yellow Oat-grass), which is better. 



It, too, occurs on chalky soils ; while the Avena 



pratensis (Meadow Oat- 

 grass) is found too fre- 

 quently in poor clays or 

 on starved moors, in which 

 its rigid leaves and harsh 

 structure render it little, 

 if any, better than a 

 weed. 



One of the most in- 

 teresting species of the 

 genus is the Avena falua 

 (Wild Oat), well known 

 as a weed in stiff arable 

 soils. This is the parent 

 of the crop oats in cul- 

 tivation, and there is rea- 

 son to know that by 

 degeneracy the crop oat 

 in some districts leaves 

 behind a pest of wild 



Fig. 23. The Downy Wild Oat. m l ~ , ,., ~ 



J The Oat - like Grass 



(Arrhenatherum avenaceum t fig. 24), though a tall, 

 succulent-looking species, is still too common in poor 

 soils, as its herbage is bitter and nauseous, and not 

 liked by cattle ; and hay from it is always inferior in 

 quality. It is sometimes recommended by seedsmen, 

 and usually put with tbeir mixtures; but we should 

 at all times refuse it. 



* See " Natural History of British Meadow aud Pasture Grasses," 

 by the Author. 



