60 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



an ordinary grain binder and the sheaves, which must be rather 

 small, should be set three to five together in small shocks. They 

 should be left to cure from two to six weeks, depending on the 

 weather, and then threshed without stacking. 



Quality of seed: Good seed is bright straw-coloured and con- 

 tains only a small amount of hulled seed and whole spikelets, or 

 groups of seed not loosened from each other in threshing. It keeps 

 its vitality fairly well for two years. Seed older than that should 

 not be used as the germs are considerably weakened. 



CRESTED DOG'S TAIL {Cynosurus cristatus L.) 

 Seed, Plate 26, Fig. 14. 



Other English name: Dog's Tail Grass. 



Botanical description: Crested Dog's Tail is perennial with 

 a short rootstock and grows in loose tufts, consisting chiefly of leafy 

 shoots. The stems are very slender, from one to two feet high, and 

 comparatively few in number. The leaves are narrow, those of the 

 stems shorter than those of the basal shoots. They are folded in 

 the bud and are generally slightly concave when fully developed. 

 The flowers are arranged in a panicle of peculiar shape and con- 

 struction. The branches are very short and turned towards the same 

 side, thus giving the panicle the appearance of a one-sided spike. 

 Each branch carries two spikelets which are extremely unlike. One 

 is composed of three or four normal flowers which have stamens and 

 pistils and consequently are fertile. The other consists of a number 

 of sharp-pointed scales, arranged in two rows, like the teeth of a two- 

 sided comb. This spikelet has neither stamens nor pistils and is 

 consequently sterile. When the panicle is young the fertile spikelets 

 are hidden by the sterile ones and the panicle has a crested appear- 

 ance. This look and the shape of the panicle have given the plant 

 its name. 



Geographical distribution: Crested Dog's Tail is indigenous 

 to almost all parts of Europe and to southwestern Asia. It has 

 been introduced into North America but is found only occasionally 

 in Canada. 



Habitat: It grows naturally in meadows, on hills and mountain 

 slopes, along seashores and roadsides, etc. 



