THE GRASSES— MEADOW FOXTAIL. 25 



much more attention, so that at the present time seed 



may be obtained with a guaranteed germinating power 



of as high as 70 per cent. This notable improvement 



has been brought about in a great 



measure by the investigations and 



reports of the Botanist to the Eoyal 



Agricultural Society of England. Also 



some credit for this change for the 



better is due to Mr. Faunce De Laune 



in calling public attention to the low 



germinating power of the Foxtail seed 



°, .,-, Ti» 1 Seed ofiYorkshire 



at that time usually supplied. Accord- Fog. 



ing to Mr. De Laune one could formerly meet with 



samples of Foxtail seed, of which not a single grain 



would germinate, and in other cases the germinating 



power would run to such figures 



as 5 per cent., 8 per cent, and 



so on. 



It would not be a difficult 

 thing to collect the seed of 

 the Meadow Foxtail. The best 

 plan is to cut the flower-spikes 

 with a portion of the stem 

 attached, bind them in little 

 bundles, and let the seed come 

 to perfect maturity. By this 

 plan seed of a much higher ger- 

 minating faculty will be obtained 

 than by the plan of stripping the 

 seed from the standing stem. ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^_ 



A few years ago it was not 

 • an uncommon thing to meet with a good many samples 

 of Foxtail containing a considerable proportion of York- 



