72 THE GRASSES— PERENNIAL RYEGRASS. 



The Seed. — That portion of the seed which is imported 

 from the Continent yields a very heavy crop, but is so 

 infested with pernicious weeds as to need most careful 

 cleaning before it is fit to sow. The writer lately took 

 an ordinary sample of average French Italian, weigh- 

 ing 3 J ounces, and out of it picked 253 seeds of Ox- 

 eyed Daisy alone. That is equivalent to 11 57 seeds of 

 the weed to each pound weight of Ryegrass, or over 

 250,000 to each bale of 2 cwt. Besides the above- 

 named weed it also contains Trefoil (in the husk). 

 Wild Forget-me-not (Dragon grass), Buttercup, Bromus, 

 &c. ; and, as there can be no doubt that the great bulk 

 of the imported seed is sold without being cleaned, the 

 consequences of sowing such a quantity of weed seeds 

 may be guessed at. The impurities found in home- 

 grown Italian are generally the same as those mentioned 

 in connection with Perennial Ryegrass. It may be inte- 

 resting to note that the seed of this grass when first 

 introduced in 1831 was sold at 42s. per bushel. 



Perennial Ryegrass. 



{Lolium perenne.) 

 Seed weighs up to 30 lbs. per bushel. 



Seed weighing 22 lbs. per bushel will germinate as 

 well as, or even better than, the very heavy weights ; 

 and the 22-lb. or 24-lb. seed, if equally pure, is the 

 best value for the money. Dr. Stebler's trials gave 

 an average germinating faculty of 70 per cent. ; but his 

 standard for good seed is 75 per cent. Some seedsmen 

 guarantee 80 per cent. 



There has been more controversy over this grass 



