PERENNIAL RYE GRASS. 279 



a longer period. In Britain it is said to have been pop- 

 ularly grown at least one hundred years before the 

 growing timothy and orchard grass became general. In 

 some parts of the United States, particularly in the 

 East and South, it has been grown to some extent for 

 nearly a century, but at no time does it appear to have 

 become greatly popular, under United States condi- 

 tions, for the reason probably that timothy and orchard 

 grass, the two great rivals of perennial rye grass in its 

 own special domain, are considered superior. This 

 grass grows at its best in climates that are temperate and 

 moist. It is not well able to withstand extremes of 

 heat or cold or drought, consequently its growth in the 

 United States is likely to be confined to areas somewhat 

 limited in comparison to the whole area. 



Since this grass is best suited to a climate temperate 

 and moist, it grows fairly well in much of New Eng- 

 land, in the North Atlantic States, south of New Eng- 

 land and in the states which border on Lakes Erie and 

 Ontario. But the most popular conditions for its 

 growth are probably foimd in Washington and Oregon, 

 west of the Cascade mountains. In the upper Missis- 

 sippi basin it does not very well withstand the extremes 

 of heat and cold. At the Minnesota Experiment Sta- 

 tion, St. Anthony Park, the author was able to secure a 

 good growth of this grass in summer, but it died in 

 winter. In the southern states, the summer heat is 

 too great for this grass, and in the semi-arid belt and 

 southwestern states, it is quite unsuited to the average 

 conditions pertaining to plant growth. 



Ill Canada, perennial rye grass is never likely to be 



