Book VI. HAY GRASSES. 889 



5661. The cock' s-foot grass (Dactylis glomerata i.,^g.788. b) is an imperfect perennial, 

 and grows naturally on dry sandy soils. This grass may be known by its coarse appear- 

 ance, both of the leaf and spike, and also by its whitish green hue. 



5662. One writer says, he has cultivated it largely, and to his satisfaction, on wet loams on a clay marl 

 bottom, upon which the finer grasses are apt to give way in a few years to the indigenous produce. If 

 suffered to rise high, it is very coarse; but, fed close, is a very valuable sheep pasture. He has sown two 

 bushels an acre, and lOlbs. common red clover ; and when the clover wears out, the grass fills the lands 

 and abides well in it It grows well in winter. It has been found highly useful as an early sheep feed. It is 

 early, hardy, and productive, but is a coarser plant than rye-grass, and requires even greater attention in 

 regard to being cut soon, or fed close. It does best by itself, and the time of its ripening being different 

 from that of clover, it does not suit well to be mixed with that plant. The pasturage it affords is luxuriant, 

 and particularly agreeable to sheep. It is cultivated to a great extent, and with astonishing success, at 

 Holkham. The quantity of sheep kept upon it, summer and winter, is quite surprising ; and the land be- 

 comes renovated by lying two or three years under this grass, and enriched by the manure derived from 

 the sheep. A field, in the park at Woburn, was laid down in two equal parts, one part with rye-grass and 

 white clover, and the other part with cock's-foot and red clover : from the spring till midsummer, the 

 sheep kept almost constantly on the rye-grass ; but after that time they left it, and adhered with equal 

 constancy to the cock's-foot during the remainder of the season. In The Code of Agriculture (p. 497. 

 3d edit.) it is stated, that Sinclair of Woburn considers " no grass so well suited for all purposes as 

 cock's-foot; " and in the second edition of the Hortus Gramlneus Wobumensis, it is observed, that if one 

 species only is thought preferable to another in the alternate husbandry, that species is the Dactvlis glo- 

 merata, from its more numerous merits. But a certain supply of the most nutritious herbage throughout 

 the season will be in vain looked for from any one species of grass, and can only be found where nature 

 has provided it in a combination of many. None appear better fitted for mixing with Dactylis than 

 Festuca duriuscula and prat^nsis, Pba trivialis, /^olcus avenJlceus, Phlfeum pratense, iolium perenne, 

 and white clover. " A combination thus formed, of three parts cock's-foot, and one part of these species 

 just mentioned, will secure the most productive and nutritive pasture in alternation with grain crops, on 

 soils of the best quality ; and even on soils of an inferior nature, under the circumstances of unfavourable 

 seasons, will afford nutritive herbage, when otherwise the land would have been comparatively devoid of 

 it, if one species of grass only had been employed." {Hort. Gram, ff 06. 2d edit. 414.) 



5663. The proportional value which the grass at the time of flowering bears to the grass at the time the 

 seed is ripe, is as 5 to 7 nearly. The proportional value which the grass of the lattermath bears to the grass 

 at the time of flowering, is as 6 to 10 ; and to the grass at the time the seeil is ripe, as 6 to 14. Sixty-foisr 

 drachms of the straws at the time of flowering afford of nutritive matter 1-2 dr. The leave* or lattermath, 

 and the straws simply, are therefore of equal proportional value ; a circumstance which will point out this 

 grass to be more valuable for permanent pasture than for hay. The above details prove, that a loss of 

 nearly one third of the value of the crop is sustained, if left to the period when the seed is ripe, though the 

 proportional value of the grass at that time is greater, i. e. as 7 to 5. The produce does not increase if the 

 grass is left growing after the period of flowering, but uniformly decreases ; and the loss of lattermath (from 

 the rapid growth of the foliage after the grass is cropped) is very considerable. These circumstances point 

 out the necessity of keeping this grass closely cropped, either with the scythe or cattle, to reap the full 

 benefit of its merits. 



5664. The woolly soft grass (J^^olcus lanatus L.,Jig. 580. c) is an imperfect perennial, 

 and rather late flowering grass, of a short unsubstantial appearance, and found chiefly in 

 poor dry soils. It is, however, a very common grass, and grows on all soils, from the 

 richest to the poorest. It afibrds abundance of seed, which is light, and easily dispersed 

 by the wind. 



5665. It was cultivated at Woburn on a strong clayey loam, and the proportional value 

 which the grass at the time the seed is ripe, bears to the grass at the time of flowering, 

 is as 11 to 1 2. Young of Essex observes of this grass, that it flourishes well on any 

 moist soil, and should be sown chiefly with a view to sheep, for it is not so good for 

 other stock : many acres of it have been cultivated on his farm for sheep, and it has 

 answered well when kept close fed. Marshal, in his Midland Counties, mentions it as 

 a good grass for cows .ind other cattle, but bad for horses. In his Mural Economy (^ 

 Yorkshire, he, however, condemns it altogether. 



5666. According to Sinclair, of Woburn, " it appears to be generally disliked by all 

 sorts of cattle. The produce is not so great as a view of it in the fields would indicate ; 

 but being left almost entirely untouched by cattle, it appears the most productive part of 

 the herbage. The hay which is made of it, from the number of downy hairs which 

 cover the surface of the leaves, is soft and spongy, and disliked by cattle in general." 

 The Woburn experiments lead to the conclusion that the //olcus mollis is a better hay 

 plant than the species here noticed ; but as that is a more durable perennial it is less 

 fitted for the temporary purposes of this section. 



5667. The cxdture of these grasses maybe considered the same as that of rye-grass, 

 which was discussed when treating of clover and rye-grass. (5540.) The seeds of all of 

 them are sold by the principal seedsmen, or may be gathered on grass-fields, or hedge 

 wastes, by women or children at an easy rate. 



SuBSECT. 2. TaU or Hay Grasses of permanent Duration. 



5668. No permanent grass has been found equal to the rye-grass for the purposes of 

 convertible husbandry, but others have been selected which are considered superior for 

 hay meadows. The principal of these are the fescue, fox-tail, and meadow-grass. Agri- 

 culturists, indeed, are not all agreed on the comparative merits of these grasses with rye- 

 grass ; but there are none who do not consider it advisable to introduce a portion of each, 

 or most of these species along with rye-grass, in laying down lands to permanent pasture. 

 The nutritive products of these grasses, of perennial rye-grass, and of that singular grass 

 florin, are thus given by Sir H. Davy : 



