SHEEP'S FESCUE. 



185 



ful on dry hillsides, or sandy, old fields, where blue grass 

 will not thrive well. It has long leaves, and they are 

 much sought for by cattle. It has been grown extensively 

 in East Tennessee, and is grown in some 

 localities in Davidson county, without 

 much success. The Hon. Staunton Gould 

 says this grass forms the great bulk of the 

 sheep pastures of the Highlands of Scot- 

 land, where it is the favorite food of the 

 sheep, and where the shepherds believe it 

 to be more nutritious for flocks than any 

 other. Gmelin says the Tartars choose to 

 encamp during the summer where this 

 grass is most abundant, because they be- 

 lieve it to be the most wholesome for all 

 cattle, but especially for sheep. Linnaeus 

 asserts that sheep have no relish for hills 

 and heaths without it. It grows in dry 

 sandy soils where all other vegetation 

 parches up. The roots are long, turf short 

 and dense, making it well suited for lawns. 

 It retains its verdure during the most ex- 

 tended droughts. It will not bear ma- 

 nuring, for then it is dispossessed by other 

 grasses. Its great value is for pasturage 

 upon sandy soils. It will suit the Cumberland Table -land. 

 The Woburn experiments showed that, cut at the time of 

 flowering, the product of one acre was 5,445 pounds, which 

 gave 212 pounds of nutritive matter. The same number of 

 pounds was obtained, cut when the seeds were ripe, but 

 there were only 127 pounds of nutritive matter. The after- 

 math yielded 3,403 pounds of hay, having 66 pounds of 

 nutritive matter. From this it appears that there is a dif- 

 ference between the results obtained by chemists and prac- 

 tical feeders as to its nutritive properties. 



