88 GRASSES AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 



than in muck soils but much depends on the character 

 of the peat. If much reduced and the supply of moist- 

 ure is ample, such a soil may maintain a good growth 

 of blue grass, but, if the peat is but little reduced and 

 if the moisture is deiicient, as it sometimes is in swamps 

 too deeply drained, the grass may not be able to main- 

 tain a stand upon it. 



From what has been said about muck and peat soils, 

 it is very evident that the adaptation of these to the 

 growth of blue grass will vary exceedingly. In some 

 instances, more particiilarly when they are mixed with 

 deposits brought in from higher ground, and moreover 

 when the water-table lies at a correct distance from the 

 surface, such soils produce pasture with much abun- 

 dance and continuity. Under other conditions the re- 

 turns are meagre, and under yet other conditions this 

 grass may refuse to grow at all on peaty soils. When 

 soil saturation is unduly abundant and prolonged, 

 coarser grasses will be sustained, as for instance wire 

 grass. Nevertheless it is true that blue grass will live 

 under a thin covering of water at certain seasons for 

 several weeks. 



Whether blue grass will grow at all on sandy soils 

 with but little earth in them will depend almost entirely 

 on the degree of moisture present in them during the 

 growing season. On th^ other hand, there are certain 

 moist sandy loam soils which are highly adapted to its 

 growth. All degrees of adaptation are found between 

 these extremes in sandy soils, according as they are in- 

 iluenced by components other than sand, by moisture 

 and by temperature. But, as a rule, the adaptation of 



