Timothy or Catstail Grass. 99 



as to whether there maybe any profits worthy of the 

 name, it is obviously of the greatest importance to put 

 down a seed mixture which will at once give the greatest 

 amount of production, and from the hardy and drought- 

 resisting character of the plants, the greatest safety 

 of production when seasons are dry or unfavourable. 

 The season of 1896 was particularly dry, but, in spite of the 

 great drought, a mixture closely approximating to that 

 suggested above gave wonderful results, and the pasture 

 remained of a beautiful green colour. I may add that 

 even in the moister climates of Great Britain a preference 

 should certainly be given to drought-resisting plants 

 when laying down to either temporary or permanent 

 pasture. It is true that in the moistest climates a dry 

 season may not wither up plants which are not remark- 

 able for drought-resisting powers, but seeing that very 

 dry seasons would certainly diminish the production 

 from grasses of inferior drought-resisting power, while 

 such seasons would affect but little grasses and plants 

 best able to resist drought, it seems evident that a most 

 decided preference should be given to drought-resisting 

 plants, whether the climate is a dry or a moist one. 

 There is, however, an exception to be made in the case 

 of rough-stalked meadow grass, because, though it does 

 suffer from drought, it recovers rapidly after rain, and 

 also spreads so quickly that it is valuable for filling up 

 the bottom of a pasture, as I have elsewhere shown, even 

 in dry and exposed situations. 



I now proceed to make some remarks on the other 

 grasses commonly used for permanent and temporary 

 pastures, and also on the other plants usually associated 

 with them. 



Timothy grass {Phl&um pratense), as the reader will 

 remember, is, by the table I have supplied, 25 per cent, 

 less productive than the first three grasses I have 

 treated of — cocksfoot, tall fescue, and tall oat grass — 

 which may readily be understood when we read in 

 Siaclair that " this grass is very deficient in the produce 



H 2 



