Other Small Grasses. 103 



the space of four or five years." As regards produc- 

 tiveness, a reference to the table will show that it 

 stands at 60, or 40 per cent, less than the first three 

 grasses given. But notwithstanding what Sinclair has 

 said — and I need hardly say that I diifer with him with 

 great diffidence — my most recent observation of it, in 

 the case of a dry and rather exposed situation, is 

 that it is a valuable grass, for, though easily afi'ected 

 by drought, it revives again with great rapidity when 

 rain has fallen, and, from its spreading habit, is 

 valuable for filling up the bottom of a pasture in any 

 situation. In the case of a pasture in its fourth year, 

 and which contains the dry and rather exposed situa- 

 tion alluded to in the last sentence, it shows no sign 

 of decline, and I have therefore no hesitation in 

 recommending it for pastures in any situation that are 

 to lie from four to six years in climates I'esembling 

 the driest parts of Roxburghshire. 



Avena flavescens (golden oat grass) is valuable for 

 filling up the bottom of a pasture, and also for its 

 hardy qualities and suitability to almost any kind of 

 soil. Being one of the smaller grasses, its productive 

 powers are not large, but as the flowering-stems are 

 long (about 2J feet), it would therefore yield fairly 

 well in the hay crop. It stands in the table at 55. 



Poa pratensis (smooth-stalked meadow grass) also 

 stands in the table at 55, but is so decidedly condemned 

 by Sinclair and other writers that I have now deter- 

 mined on not sowing it again, though, as the reader 

 will remember, I used 2 lb. of it in the mixture which, 

 in 1895, gave such satisfactory results ; but it is quite 

 evident to me that Poa fertilis, or serotina, is much 

 to be preferred to it, and 1 consider 1 lb. of this Poa very 

 desirable for well- sheltered and low-lying situations. 



Festuca duriuscula (hard fescue) is a grass which has 

 been favourably spoken of by most writers on grass. 

 Sinclair considers it to be " one of the best of the fine, 

 or dwarf-growing, grasses." " It springs rather early, 



