CHAP. I. 



MEADOW FOXTAIL GRASS. 



907 



from that tufted habit which prevents such grasses as cocksfoot from 

 forming an even sward. Meadow foxtail shares with sweet vernal the 

 distinction of being the earliest-flowering of all our useful grasses. On 

 a good soil it is quite capable of yielding three cuts in the year. In the 

 year of sowing, however, the yield is only moderate ; it is better in the 

 second year, and acquires its greatest development in the third year. 

 As a forage crop, therefore, foxtail is never grown by itself. Associated, 

 however, with meadow fescue, cocksfoot, rye-grass, and alsike clover, 

 it is well adapted for several years' ley, and for permanent pasture. 



The " seed " of meadow foxtail, as it occurs in commerce, consists 

 (fig. 400) of the spikelet with its contained floret. It is frequently 



Xat. size. 



Fig. 399. Meadow Foxtail. 



Alopecurus pratensis. 



Fig. 400. "Seed" of 

 Alopecurus pratensis 



(Meadow Foxtail). 

 Magnified 10 diameters. 



gathered unripe, and this accounts for the low germinating percentage 

 which samples often give. 



Common impurities of foxtail "seed" are the seeds of Yorkshire fog 

 (Holcus lanatus), and of creeping soft grass (Holcus mollis). Though 

 possessing a close apparent resemblance to the seed of foxtail, they 

 ma)' yet be easily distinguished from it, both by the character and 

 distribution of the fine hairs or cilia upon the glumes which enclose 

 the grain, and by the nature of the awn. Sometimes it happens 

 that meadow foxtail seed is adulterated with the seed of its near ally, 

 Alopecurus agrestis, L., variously termed slender foxtail, black bent, 

 or hunger weed, and well known as one of the most objectionable weeds 

 of arable land. The "seed " of this latter, however, is less ciliated upon 

 the keel of the glume, and is usualry darker in appearance than 

 that of meadow foxtail. We would strongly recommend farmers to 

 gather, in the course of the summer, seeds of Yorkshire fog and black 

 bent, and to keep them labelled in small bottles for reference. To 

 gather the "seeds" of these two familiar weed grasses it is only 

 necessary to draw the ripe panicles between the finger and the 



