I4 2 PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL BOTANY 



seeds of perennial rye grass per pound and 285,000 of Italian rye grass. 

 The farmer sows about 50 pounds of seed per acre, when sown alone, but 

 the perennial rye grass is usually sown in mixture with other grass seeds. 

 Italian rye grass is adapted to moist regions with mild winters. It 

 succeeds best on loam and sandy loose soils being adapted for hay pur- 

 poses and may be cut several times during the growing period. It can 

 stand considerable drought, but it is not a suitable grass for districts where 

 the summer is dry and hot, and hence, it will never assume any import- 

 ance in the prairie regions. 



Belonging to the same group is the tares of the Bible, or bearded darnel, 

 Lolium ttmulentum, adventive from Europe but rare in grain fields and 

 waste places. 



PIG. 59. Sand dune covered with marram grass (Ammophila arenaria), Gilgo Beach 

 South Shore, Long Island, July 8, 1914. 



Marram Grass (Ammophila arenaria). A description of this grass is 

 given here because of its unusual interest as a sand-binding plant. It is 

 found on the sandy beaches and sand dunes along the Atlantic coast from 

 New Brunswick to North Carolina and on the shores of the Great Lakes 

 and in Europe (Fig. 59). It is a coarse, wiry perennial with a long 

 creeping root-stock from which tufts of branches and green leaves arise at 

 intervals in the growth of the rootstock through the mobile sand. As 

 rapidly as the green parts are buried by the shifting sand the rhizome grows 

 in length upward toward the surface giving rise to fresh aerial shoots. 

 This spreading habit results in the plant presenting an obstacle to the 

 movement of the dune sands, so that as the growth of the marram grass 



