104 The Smaller Grasses. 



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 affected 

 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 occupies 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 cUmates resembling 

 the driest parts of Eoxburghshire. " 



Golden Oat grass (Avena flavescens) 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 

 pbwers are not large, but as the flowering stems are 

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

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



Smooth-stalked Meadow grass {Poa pratensis) also 

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

 by Sinclair and other writers that I have given up 

 sowing it, though, as the reader will remember, I used 

 2 lbs. of it in the mixture which, in 1895, gave such 

 satisfactory results, due no doubt to the better grasses in 

 the mixture. 



Hard Fescue {Festuea duriuscula) is a grass which has 

 been favourably spoken of by most writers on grasses. 

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

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

 and the produce is remarkably fine and succulent." He 

 elsewhere observes that it withstands the eilects of 

 severe dry weather better than many other grasses. Its 

 productive powers are inferior, and are stated in the 

 table at 50. It is, however, useful for filling up the 

 bottom of a pasture, and it is a drought-resisting grass. 



Sweet Vernal grass {Anthoxanthum odoratum) stands 



