THE SELECTION OP GEASSES AND CLOYEES. 53 



given at pages 128 and 152, from wliich it will be seen that of 

 the larger grasses only Foxtail is superior to Perennial Rye Grass 

 in nutritious properties. Experiments which have been made by 

 feeding cattle on hay composed exclusively of this grass confirm 

 my estimate of its valuable qualities. It also deserves to be widely 

 known that Rye Grass straw cut into chaff is a very substantial 

 food for cattle. An experienced grower, probably the largest 

 cultivator of Rye Grass in this country, informs me that he always 

 prefers giving his store cattle and horses the chaffed straw of Rye 

 Grass, when it has been harvested in good condition, to feeding 

 them on meadow hay cut from an old pasture, and that both 

 beasts and horses show a preference for the former. 



Morton's ' Encycloptedia of Agriculture ' contains the follow- 

 ing remark on this subject : ' According to M. Pean de Saint- 

 Gilles, a French agriculturist, the ripe straw left after threshing 

 out the seeds is a better fodder than hay made from the green 

 straw. After giving many thousand trusses of the straw to his 

 horses without other food for several months, he found that they 

 ate it as readily as the finest hay, and that it kept them in high 

 condition.' 



The objection occasionally urged against Rye Grass, that it 

 does not produce an aftermath, only holds good as to starved 

 crops, and on soils which are not adapted to grow the plant. Its 

 very cheapness has been given as a reason for not using it. In 

 the best sense of the term Rye Grass is cheap as compared with 

 many natural grasses, but in these days of agricultural depression 

 surely this is a special argument in its favour. It is quite true 

 that Festuca pratensis possesses many of its good qualities and 

 excels it iu aftermath, but the difierence in the price of the two 

 articles is considerable, and the Fescue is distinctly inferior in 

 nutritive qualities, except in its early stage of growth. 



One of the main reasons for including Perennial Rye Grass 

 in mixtures for permanent pastures is its reliability for ensuring 

 a plant. This is a matter of great importance, for if grasses 

 do not occupy the ground in the first season, weeds will inevitably 



