8 



PASTURES AND PASTURE PLANTS 



CHAP. 



ever, on good calcareous soils and marls, or on sandy loams, better quality 

 clays and other lands rich in humus, especially where recently limed or 

 marled. It starts into growth tolerably early ; vegetates freely, giving a crop 



the first season ; and may be 

 relied on to yield 2 good 

 cuttings of nutritious fodder 

 yearly, the second being very 

 productive. Mr. Carruthers 

 says it is to a large extent re- 

 jected by stock, and is there- 

 fore not a desirable element 

 in a pasture. From an acre 

 of clayey loam Sinclair se- 

 cured, at the time of flower- 

 ing, 8,167 lbs. of green, or 

 2,859 lbs. of dried, produce, 

 with 4,083 lbs. of aftermath ; 

 while Vianne obtained 5,020 

 lbs. of hay from an acre of 

 medium fertile soil. Owing 

 to the difficulty and expense 

 of harvesting the seed of 

 Yellow oat-grass, that of 

 Wavy mountain hair-grass 

 (Atra flexuosd) or of Cala- 

 magrostis aruiidinacea is com- 

 monly substituted for it in 

 commerce, but either decep- 

 tion is easily detected under 

 a lens. Good seed should have about 70 per cent, of purity and 60 per 

 cent, of germination, 1 1 lbs. being required to sow an acre. It is not 

 adapted for sowing alone, but is sometimes sown in conjunction with other 

 grasses for permanent and temporary pastures. Autumn dressings of 

 farmyard manure are profitable. 



Yellow Oat-Grass. 

 f^Avena Jlavescens.) 



Cynosurus — Dogstail-Grass 



Crested Dogstail-Grass (Cynosurus cristatus). — Perennial, growing in 

 small tufts, occasionally rooting at the nodes of the stems, and capable of 

 forming a complete sward if sown sufficiently thickly ; flowering at the end ot 

 June ; and ripening seed about a month later. This enduring and highly 

 nutritive, though not very productive or palatable, "bottom-grass" abounds in 

 the richest and best of natural pastures, though it appears disliked by cattle, 

 while sheep neglect it and permit it to run to seed in autumn except in closely 

 eaten pastures. It luxuriates in well-drained, irrigated lands and in moist 

 soils rich in humus ; grows well everywhere, excepting in very wet or sour 

 ground and loose sands ; is chiefly desirable for elevated mountain pastures ; 

 is better adapted for grazing than mowing ; resists cold and shade ; and with- 

 stands extreme drought, owing to the depth of its root-system. Vegetating 

 moderately early only, it attains to its full development in the second and 

 third years ; and gives a good aftermath if cut when in flower, at which period 

 its nutritive value is highest. The flower-culms, which soon harden and are 



