30 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 



or may be used temporarily or incidentally for grazing 

 but (except sometimes alfalfa) are never used alone for 

 permanent pasture. 



25. The two most important pasture-grasses are blue- 

 grass and Bermuda-grass. Other pasture-grasses of some 

 importance are redtop, brome-grass, orchard-grass, mea- 

 dow fescue. Still others are occasionally sown in mixtures 

 but in the aggregate are almost negligible from the com- 

 mercial standpoint. Some of these are the various fescue 

 grasses, such as sheep's fescue and red fescue, rye-grass, 

 velvet-grass, and a few others. The most important 

 legume used in permanent pasture mixtures is white 

 clover. 



Blue-grass 



26. Blue-grass is the standard pasture-grass in the 



region lying east of the Great Plains and north of Arkansas 

 and North Carolina and extending southward in the 

 mountains. It is used occasionally in other parts of the 

 country, but it does not succeed in the southern states. 

 It thrives best on limestone soils and is not adapted to 

 acid soils. The famous "blue-grass region" of Kentucky 

 lies in the limestone country in the central and northern 

 part of the state. The species is commonly called Ken- 

 tucky blue-grass and in some localities, especially north- 

 ward, it is called June-grass. 



Blue-grass is an aggressive species and, in soil adapted 

 to its growth, tends to spread. It thrives in partial shade, 

 and, in regions where the summers are hot and dry, it 

 invades the open woods, where it furnishes valuable 

 pasture. An excellent way to utilize brush-land or open 

 timber-land is to clear out the underbrush and weeds and 

 sow the land to blue-grass. At first it is necessary to keep 



