SLENDER FOXTAIL. 31 



gravels. It is common, but is disliked by many farm- 

 ers as a field grass, being very light in proportion to 

 its bulk. 



It is a valuable pasture grass, on account of its early 

 and rapid growth, and of its being greatly relished by 

 stock of all kinds. The stems and leaves are too few 

 and light to make it so desirable as a field crop. It 

 thrives best on a rich, moist, strong soil, and shoots up 

 its flowering stalks so much earlier than Timoth} 7 , that it 

 need not be mistaken for that grass, though at first sight 

 it considerably resembles it. It is superior to Timothy 

 as a permanent pasture grass, enduring the cropping of 

 sheep and cattle better, and sending up a far more luxu- 

 riant aftermath. 



It is justly regarded, therefore, as one of the most 

 valuable of the native pasture grasses of England, form- 

 ing there a very considerable portion of the sward, and 

 enduring a great amount of forcing and irrigation. 

 Though forming a close and permanent sod when fully 

 set, it does not acquire its full perfection and hold of 

 the soil until three or four years after being sown. 



The nutritive qualities of meadow foxtail are most 

 abundant at the time of flowering. It is said to lose 

 upwards of seventy per cent, of its weight in drying, if 

 cut in the blossom. 



The seed of meadow foxtail is covered with the soft 

 and woolly husks of the flower, while the larger glume is 

 furnished with an awn. There are five pounds of seed 

 in a bushel, and seventy-six thousand seeds in an ounce. 

 An insect attacks the seed while it is forming, and it is 

 also subject to blight ; and hence good seed is somewhat 

 difficult to procure, and is held at a high price. 



SLENDER FOXTAIL (Alopecurus agrestis), Fig. 21, is 

 rarely found here, but is sometimes introduced in for- 



