40 The Ottawa Naturalist. 



especially adapted for low lying lands, where it may well find a 

 place in permanent pasture mixtures. 



Austrian Brome Grass {Bi'omus ineriiiis) is an introduced 

 perennial, hardy, and a heavy cropper, producing a good after- 

 math of excellent feeding quality. By reason of the richness of 

 its composition and its luxuriant habit of growth, it is certainly 

 one of the most valuable of the introduced grasses. 



Orchard Grass 'Dactylis gloinerata]. This is a grass which 

 responds well to liberal treatment, giving large crops on rich 

 soils and particularly suitable for shady pastures. 



These must suffice as types or illustrations of our work in 

 the examination of Canadian grasses — the complete scries com- 

 prising nearly three hundred analyses. 1 would, however, refer 

 to some general conclusions, drawn from this investigation, 

 regarding the right period at which to cut for hay. 



In analysing the same grass at different stages of growth, it 

 was noticed that certain changes of composition take place as 

 the plant approaches maturity ; the percentages of water, ash and 

 albuminoids and fat decrease, while the percentage of fibre and 

 usually the nitrogen free extract increase. In the younger stages, 

 the grass is more succulent and palatable, and our work also 

 shows that it is during the earlier weeks of growth that the plant's 

 nitrogen and mineral matter are taken from the soil — which point 

 to the advisability of thoroughly preparing the seed bed by culti- 

 vation and fertilizing, and to the value of top dressings with 

 nitrate of soda while the crop is still young. 



P'urther, the data we obtained allow us to infer that a loss 

 of much valuable and digestible food material occurs when a 

 grass is allowed to thoroughly mature before it is cut for hay. 

 Scientific evidence is all in favor of cutting at or shortly after 

 the flowering period. 



INDIAN CORN. 



No account of the coarse or bulky fodder plants of Canada 

 would be complete without some reference to the character of 

 the Indian corn crop, one which ranks next in importance to 



