i6 



PASTURES AND PASTURE PLANTS 



CHAP. 



and germination, 42 '6 lbs. being required to sow an acre. The weight per 

 bushel is usually accepted as the gauge of value, the heaviest and best seeds 

 weighing from 28 to 30 lbs. Perennial rye-grass is seldom, if ever, sown alone, 

 but Stebler says that it may form 80 per cent, of pasturage mixtures with White 

 clover in marshy districts where the soil is good, a lower percentage being 

 suitable for meadows. He also recommends 20 per cent, with clovers for 

 clover leys, up to 10 per cent, for temporary grass lands, and 5 per cent, 

 only where permanence is essential. To the excessive use of so comparatively 

 short-lived a plant as Perennial rye-grass is probably due the generally 



experienced period of failure 

 or deterioration of pastures 

 about 4 years after being laid 

 down, as those sown without 

 Rye-grass continue to improve 

 year by year. Nitrogenous 

 manures, especially nitrate of 

 soda, are most beneficial. 



Pacey's Rye-Grass {Lo- 

 liuni perenne tenue). — A more 

 enduring, productive and 

 hardy grass than the ordinary 

 variety, though perfecting less 

 seed. In commerce the 

 heaviest and finest samples of 

 Perennial rye-grass are sold 

 as Pacey's. 



Italian Rye-Grass {Lo- 

 lium italicum ; Lolium multi- 

 floruni). — A tall, compactly 

 tufted, grass generally lasting 

 2 years ; coming into flower 

 at the beginning of June. This 

 grass grows more rapidly, and, 

 under suitable conditions, 

 yields more abundantly than 

 any other variety in cultivation. 

 It resists severe drought ; is 

 not injured by winter cold in 

 firm soils ; luxuriates on warm, 

 moist, rich and stiff lands ; 

 grows well everywhere except- 

 ing on poor sands and in very 

 dry situations ; and succeeds 

 perfectly under irrigation. Starting early in spring, it continues growing until 

 late autumn ; develops remarkably rapidly ; and yields from 4 to 8 or 9 succes- 

 sive cuttings from March till winter. It is superior to Perennial rye-grass in 

 nutritive value ; and, like that variety, should always be cut before flowering, as 

 the culms then become hard and deteriorate in value. Thorough rolling is 

 essential, especially in autumn and spring. The following yields of hay per 

 acre have been secured by using liquid manure : — Telfer, 30,800 to 39,600 lbs. ; 

 Ralston, 33,800 lbs. ; Dickinson, 30,800 lbs. : Vianne, 28,600 lbs. ; the 

 Marquis of Ailsa, 17,600 to 22,000 lbs. ; Lord Essex, 17,600 lbs.; Pinkert, 

 26,400 lbs. ; and Karmrodt, 5,630 lbs. The quantity of produce is 



Italian Rye-Grass. 

 {^Loliiiin italiciint ) 



