924 



THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. 



BOOK X. 



they are (like those of wheat) set broadside on the stem, and each is 

 furnished with two outer or empty glumes. By the two last-named 

 characters an ear of couch grass is readily distinguished from an ear of 

 rye grass. Quack Grass, Quick Grass, Quitch Grass, and Wild Wheat- 

 grass, are amongst the names by which Triticum repens is known in the 

 United States. 



The HAIB GEASSES (Aira) make up a pretty group of plants, but 



Fig. 429. Upright Brome Grass. 



Bromus erectus. 



Fig. 430. Tussock Grass (Aira 

 cpespitosa). 



they are all weeds. There are half-a-dozen native species, though, as 

 a rule, only one is met with upon the farm, the tufted hair grass, or 

 tussock grass (Aira csespitosa, L.). It grows chiefly in wet meadows 

 and pastures, forming dark unsightly tufts or tussocks, termed in some 

 districts " bull faces " or " bull pates." Cattle seldom touch the hard, 

 rough, flat leaves. Up to the time of flowering the panicle is exceed- 

 ingly beautiful, owing to the brilliant silvery lustre of the purplish 

 spikelets. At the time of flowering the panicle (fig. 430) spreads wide 

 open, and does not close again, the effective result of its compact 

 appearance when young being thereby lost. Drainage and manuring 

 operate against Aira ceespitosa, and hand pulling is sometimes resorted 

 to, the root being left to wither on the ground or thrown upon the 

 compost heap. More commonly the hassocks are chopped up with an 

 adze. 



MEADOW BARLEY GRASS (Hordeum pratense, Huds.), has the 

 appearance (fig. 431) of a diminutive plant of the cereal barley. It 

 is not cultivated, as the long rough awns are unpleasant, and may 

 prove injurious, to grazing animals. It occasionally occurs in hay fields 

 and pastures, but is seldom abundant. The allied wall barley (fig. 432), 

 or way bent (Hordeum murinum, L.), is a weed of gravelly roadsides. 



