902 



THE COMPLETE GRAZIER, 



BOOK X. 



of the mixture sown. It is claimed for meadow fescue that it will 

 grow where meadow foxtail does not thrive. The Randall Grass of the 

 United States is the same as meadow fescue. 



SHEEP'S FESCUE (Festuca ovina, L.) may be taken as the type of the 

 narrow-leaved fescues. It forms a thick tufted herbage of very fine 

 leaves (fig. 389), so fine that they are often described as setaceous 

 (Lat. seta, a bristle), and in the United States it is known as Pine Bunch 



Nat. size 



Fig. 389. Sheep's Fescue. 



Festuca ovina. 



Fig. 390. "Seed" of 

 Festuca duriuscula 



(Hard Fescue). 



Front and side views, 



magnified 10 diameters. 



Grass. It is a common grass on light limestone pastures and on 

 chalk downs grazed by sheep, and in such situations it helps to form 

 a close carpet of turf. The panicle is not unlike that of some of the 

 meadow grasses (Poa), from which it may be distinguished by the 

 presence of short awns, the meadow grasses being free from awns. 

 Festuca ovina is susceptible of considerable variations determined by 

 circumstances of soil, situation, and climate. The commonest modifi- 

 cations are 



Festuca duriuscula 

 Festuca rubra 

 Festuca heterophylla 

 Festuca tenuifolia . 



Hard fescue, 

 lied fescue. 

 Various-leaved fescue. 

 Fine-leaved fescue. 



HARD FESCUE (Festuca duriuscula, L.) is so named in allusion to 

 the fact that the spikelets become hard as they ripen. The grass is a 

 valuable constituent of sheep pastures, where it aids in promoting a 

 close bottom to the turf. Its habit, however, is not tufted, and its 

 herbage is tender, juicy, and relished by stock. The leaves are of a 

 deep bluish green colour, stiff, and rolled up almost into a cj'linder. 

 Hard fescues may be usefully included in mixtures for permanent 

 pastures upon all soils that are not very wet. Being the commonest 

 of the narrow-leaved fescues its " seed " (fig. 390) is the cheapest. 



