VARIETIES CULTIVATED. 205 



allowed to renew itself by seeding on the ground. Since 

 the system of irrigation has been introduced to our farms, 

 the cultivation of the Italian ryegrass has largely in- 

 creased, as no other grass is so suitable for that mode of 

 treatment, and none is likely to give the same large 

 returns. 



Ryegrass, as its name would import, belongs to the 

 order GRAMINE^E, forming the genus LOLIUM, of which 

 three species only are of any interest to the farmer. 

 Of these there are several varieties entering into cul- 

 tivation, all of which, however, possess the same botani- 

 cal characteristics, and are readily distinguished from the 

 other grasses of the farm. The entire genus Lolium is 

 well marked by the many-flowered sessile spikelets being 

 arranged edgewise, and alternately upon a zigzag rachis 

 (see woo.dcut), and supported by a single herbaceous 

 glume, arising from the base and pressing against the 

 outer edge: occasionally, a second rudimentary glume 

 interposes between the spikelets and the rachis. 



1. Lolium perenne Common Ryegrass (jig. 1) is a 

 perennial plant indigenous to this country, growing, under 

 ordinary circumstances, to the height of '2 feet. It has 

 many-flowered spikelets, much longer than the glume; the 

 roots are perennial, and of a fibrous character ; the stems 

 tiller freely in good soils, with conspicuous bent joints 

 near their base. Although termed perennial, it does 

 not appear to be naturally of long duration, generally 

 dying off by the fourth or fifth year. Like most others of 

 our plants which have been largely cultivated, several 

 different varieties have from time to time been intro- 

 duced to public notice, of which the following are the 

 most important : 



Common Perennial or Scottish Perennial is the sort most 

 commonly employed for sowing on lands which are sub- 

 jected to rotations in which the land is left down in seeds 



