78 THE GRASSES— PERENNIAL RYEGRASS. 



is possible to obtain most of the true permanent grasses 

 equal in germinating power to Perennial Eyegrass, and 

 in some cases surpassing it. It is a grass that quickly 

 exhausts the soil, and becomes year by year less pro- 

 ductive. Although the plants are short-lived they do 

 not disappear from the pasture, but are reproduced 

 from the seeds which are freely ripened and shed, the 

 flower-stems being invariably left untouched by cattle. 

 Again, as regards cheapness, when the number of seeds 

 in a pound of each of the leading kinds is ascertained, 

 it will be seen that Eyegrass seed is really dearer than 

 the seed of some of the permanent grasses. 



The Seed. — Perennial Eyegrass seed of less weight 

 per bushel than 24 lbs. cannot be thoroughly cleaned, 

 so that lighter samples should always be avoided. On 

 the other hand, there is no advantage, except perhaps on 

 the score of extra -purity, in the use of seed of very 

 heavy weight, as it has been proved that seed of 22 lbs. 

 or 24 lbs. per bushel will yield a greater bulk of pro- 

 duce than seed of 28 lbs. per bushel. 



The weed seeds usually met with in Eyegrass (both 

 Perennial and Italian) are those of the Buttercup (called 

 " Crawtae " or Crowtoe in Scotland), Eibgrass, Large 

 Dock, Sorrel Dock, Hairgrass (Festuca sciuroides), Wild 

 Forget-me-not (sometimes called Scorpion grass). Goose 

 grass (Bromus mollis and secalinus), and " last but not 

 least," Yorkshire Fog. 



The grass-seed merchants of Scotland and the North 

 of Ireland take great pains to remove all weed seeds 

 from the Eyegrass ; and, by the aid of expensive and 

 elaborate machinery, succeed in producing samples of 

 a very high degree of purity. The total quantity of 

 weed seeds thus removed annually in the cleaning pro- 



