VARIETIES CULTIVATED. 209 



pushing out long prostrate stolons or shoots, with an 

 abundance of foliage, so that one plant, by the time 

 the spikes begin to appear, will form a close tuft, ex- 

 tending from 2 to 3 feet in diameter. These stolons or 

 shoots, however, although lying close on the ground, never 

 attempt to strike root until the end of the season, and 

 then only very sparingly. It does not appear to offer 

 any great inducements for cultivation. Its height is about 

 15 to 18 inches from the ground, but the entire length 

 from the root to the point of the spike is often from 2^ to 

 3 feet. It is generally about a fortnight longer in seeding 

 than the other varieties of ryegrass, and produces compa- 

 ratively few flower-stalks. 



Stickney's variety is so called from the name of the 

 original grower, Mr. Stickney, of Holderness, and has 

 always since its introduction been held in high estimation 

 by growers of ryegrass. It resembles Molle's a good deal 

 in its habit of growth, but is of a more perennial nature, 

 and grows stronger and more freely both in the beginning 

 and at the end of the season. Its chief distinguishing 

 characteristics are its peculiar light-green colour, and 

 more than ordinary length of stem. 



Thick- stalked Perennial Ryegrass was original^ 

 obtained (1833) by Messrs. Lawson from Vilmorin, An- 

 drieux, & Co., of Paris, under the name of Lolium 

 grossum. It differs greatly from the preceding varieties ; 

 its stiff and upright habit of growth -rendering it 

 nearly as remarkable as the spreading ryegrass is for 

 its slender stoloniferous habit. It grows to the height 

 of about 18 to 20 inches, carrying a very broad 

 spike about 8 inches long; the spikelets are very long, 

 and placed so that the end of one readies to the base of 

 the next above. The experimental trials of it do not 

 appear to have been very satisfactory not, at all events, 

 sufficiently so to give it a preference over the varieties 



