922 



THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. 



BOOK X. 



(Arenaria serpyllifolia), ox-eye daisy (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum), 

 and even clover dodder (Cuscuta Trifolii). The last-named is found 

 in samples which have been obtained from timothy grown in associa- 

 tion with clover, the latter being attacked by dodder. In the process 

 of sifting, the fine dodder seeds easily pass through with those of 

 timothy, and though dodder never attacks timothy or any other grass, 

 yet when dodder-infested timothy seed is sown with clover seed the 

 clover plant is likely to become attacked. American samples of 

 timothy seed are probably always free from dodder. The cheapness 

 of timothy seed renders it scarcely worth while to resort to adultera- 

 tion, but particles of grey sand have been used for this purpose. These 

 sandy particles, possessing the same colour as the seed, are liable to 

 be overlooked in a superficial examination, though easily detected with 

 a little care, and promptly discovered in testing the germinating capa- 

 city of the sample. 



This seems an appropriate stage at which to speak of certain weed 

 grasses, or " vagrants," which it has not been found convenient to 

 describe in the preceding section. The undesirable grasses now to be 

 dealt with comprise the Brome Grasses, Couch Grass, Hair Grasses, 

 Meadow Barley Grass, Quaking Grass, and Yorkshire Fog. They 

 cannot be said* to be wittingly cultivated by the farmer, but they fre- 

 quently intrude, as uninvited guests, upon his domain. 



The BROME GRASSES (Bromus). The native species of Bromus are 



Fig. 425. Soft Brome Grass. 

 Bromus mollis. 



Fig. 426. Smooth Brome Grass. 



Bromus racemosus. 



all weeds. They are handsome grasses, with elegant lance-shaped 

 spikelets, each containing five or more awned florets. By far the 

 most common is the soft brome grass (Bromus mollis, L. fig. 425), 

 a too abundant constituent of the herbage of water-meadows, hay-fields, 



