AGRICULTURAL GRASSES 37 



DACTYLIS GLOMERATA 



(Rough Cocksfoot). 



Cocksfoot is indigenous in hedgerows and ditches in almost 

 all parts of England,' and is one of the most widely distributed 

 of all the gi-asses, but prior to the introduction from the United 

 States in the eighteenth century, it does not appear to have 

 been sown for agricultural purposes. The plant shows con- 

 siderable variations in character in diiFerent soUs and situations. 

 On dry calcareous land this grass is stunted and wiry, while 

 in fertile valleys and rich land it grows to an immense size. 

 Its proper place is on good, strong, damp soUs in low-lying 

 districts, where a great quantity of leafy herbage is produced. 

 In such lands the culms do not change so quickly to woody 

 fibre as on drier soils, and the stalks are eaten down by stock 

 with greater relish. Even on the land which best suits this 

 grass I would sow less of it than is generally advised, and 

 substitute larger proportions of Meadow Fescue and Foxtail. 

 For Cocksfoot is an unsightly grass, gi-owing in great tufts ; the 

 foliage is harsh to the touch, and the coarse hard stems, two or 

 three feet high, are not only objectionable to the eye, but they 

 prevent the hay from fetching top market price, and the flower- 

 heads are extremely liable to ergot. Besides, the aftermath 

 of Cocksfoot is inferior in quality to that of Foxtail, and on 

 thin soils, in a dry season, the former is often very much 

 withered by rust. 



It has been asserted that an acre of Cocksfoot wUl 

 sustain twice as many sheep as an acre of Timothy. This may 

 be true of the early growth, but it certainly does not hold good 

 of the later crop, for the productiveness of the two grasses is 

 nearly reversed after midsummer. 



Some years ago a writer gave Cocksfoot greater prominence 

 than older authorities assigned to it. As a result old pastures 



