PASTURES AND PASTURE PLANTS 



CHAP. 



required per acre. This grass may well form one-eighth part of all mixtures 

 for permanent pasture ; and it is most desirable for leys which are intended 

 to last for 3 years and upwards. Manure of any kind is very beneficial. 



Anthoxanthum —Vernal-Grass 



Sweet-scented Vernal-Grass {Anthoxanthum odoratum). — Perennial, 

 forming compact tufts of " bottom-grass " ; flowering in April ; and perfecting 

 seed during June. Comparatively poor in nutritive value and bulk of 

 produce, this is the earliest of fodder grasses in spring ; is almost unaffected 

 by drought, cold or excessive wet ; luxuriates under the shade of trees ; 



succeeds best on moist sandy 

 loams, though found in pastures 

 on all kinds of land, even in the 

 driest situations ; and is neglected 

 by stock, so that the flower-culms 

 are often to be found in quantity 

 in autumn. The autumn growth 

 is less luxuriant than that of 

 spring, but new shoots are thrown 

 up soon after each cutting. Ac- 

 cording to Sinclair, a brown sandy 

 loam, with manure, yielded per 

 acre, at the time of flowering, 

 7,827 lbs. of green, or 2,103 lbs. 

 dried, produce, with 6,805 l^^s. of 

 aftermath. True seed is gathered 

 from wild plants in the forests of 

 central Germany, but that of 

 ^ Pud's Vernal-grass {Anthox- 

 anthum Puelii), a worthless 

 annual variety to which it bears 

 a close resemblance, is usually 

 substituted for it in commerce. 

 Wavy mountain hair-grass is 

 also employed as an adulterant. Good seed should have 60 per cent, of 

 germination and 95 per cent, of purity, 13 7 lbs. being required per acre. 

 Though cattle eat its bitter foliage only from necessity. Sweet vernal-grass, 

 imparting as it does a pleasant aroma to hay, may be used in mixtures 

 of seeds for permanent and temporary pastures on dry soils, where better 

 grasses do not succeed. 



Sweet-scented Vernal-Grass. 

 {AnthoxaniU7tin odoratum.') 



AvENA — Oat-Grass 



Tall Oat-Grass; False Oat-Grass (Avena elatior ; Arrhenatheruni 

 avenaceuni). — Perennial, forming large, loose tufts ; flowering in June and 

 July ; and maturing seed towards the end of July. An early and valuable 

 " top-grass," this withstands drought ; gives from 2 to 4 cuttings )-early in 

 good soils ; yields well the first season, attaining to its maximum produce 

 the second year; and thrives on warm loams, good clays and deep soils 

 generally, though too much moisture destroys, while poor land stunts, the 

 plant. Though not an enduring perennial, it ripens tolerably eaily, and so 

 resows itself The somewhat bitter herbage is not readily eaten by cattle. 



