I^ALIAX RYE GRASS. 99 



ITALIAN RYE ' GRASS (io?ittwi Italicum). 



Spikelets many flowered, solitary, on each joint of the corJfinuous rachis 

 edgewise, glume only one, and external. Distinguished from Darnell by 

 the glumes being shorter than the ^pikelets. 



Prof. Way gives the following analysis of this 

 grass : Water 75.61, flesh -forming principles 

 2.45, fatty matters .80, heat-producing principles 

 "14.11, woody fibre 4.82, mineral substances 2.21. 

 See table in chapter III. 



This grass has been lately introduced from 

 IM&pe, where it is said to be more universally 

 a<Ja|ibed to all sorts of climates than any other 

 grass, and is very popular there. It grows from 

 two to three feet high, and on moist, rich land, 

 will perhaps bear cutting as frequently as a soil- 

 ing or green forage crop, as any other grass, 

 affording a succession of green cuttings until late 

 in the fall. It can be forced by manures and 

 irrigation to a greater extent than any other known 

 ^ species of hay. 



However, as can be seen from its analysis, it 

 has, when green, nearly half less nutrient proper- 

 ties than timothy, and unless the farmer wishes 

 to cut it as a green food, it has no advantages 

 over the latter. It is v an annual with a fibrous 

 root, and bears grazing well. The time of sow- 

 ing is early fall, and ten pounds of seed are re- 

 quired per acre, a bushel weighing eighteen 

 pounds. It is a valuable grass for Southern farm- 

 ers, where hay is scarce and high. Being sown in 

 the fall the farmer will be enabled to cut it early in 

 the spring, thus giving the stock a change from corn alone 

 to succulent hay. It has been fully tested in Georgia, 

 and has given great satisfaction. It gives a fine color to 

 the butter of cows fed on it, and they eat it with great 



