56 PEEMANENT AND TEMPOEAEY PASTUEES. 



LOLIUM PEEENNE 

 {Perennial Bye Grass). 



An American ■writer enumerates between sixty and seventy 

 varieties of Eye Grass, but no great experience is needed to 

 discover that in so long a list there are more names than sorts. 

 The majority are mere synonyms ; others are selections having 

 no permanent character ; so that for practical purposes the 

 number may be reduced to about half a dozen. 



Lolium perenne was the first grass gathered separately for 

 agricultural purposes. It is better known and more frequently 

 used than any other species, and notwithstanding recently ex- 

 pressed opinions that it is biennial and not perennial, I am satis- 

 fied that it is entitled to the name by which it has been known 

 since 1611, the date of the earliest agricultural book which men- 

 tions it. That this grass is not perennial on aU soils, nor under 

 adverse conditions, may be freely admitted, and few, if any, 

 grasses are. But when true Perennial Eye Grass seed is sown 

 on soil that is adapted for it, and its natural requirements are 

 met, it will prove a lasting plant.^ 



' Since the iirst edition of this work was issued, I have received from eminent 

 authorities upon Grrassea many confirmations of this opinion. Sir John B. Lawes has 

 ■written me approving this view, and has also puhlished convincing evidence which he oh- 

 taiued as to the permanent character and valuable qualities of Perennial Rye Grass. Sir 

 John visited Leicestershire for the express purpose of examining the famous ox-pastures 

 of that county, and subsequently had the herbage of the best two pastures carefully 

 analysed. The report establishes beyond a shadow of doubt the fact that Lolium perenne 

 is the grass of which the pastures in question principally consist, and that it must have, 

 existed in them for more than forty years, although during that time it has never been 

 allowed to seed. Further, it is clearly shown that the pastures actually owe their high 

 reputation to the abundant presence of Perennial Rye GrarS and White Clover. 



Dr. Fream has, in an article published in the Mark Lane Expri'ss, made the following 

 observations : ' Readers who are familiar with what may be termed the '' gratis literature " 

 of the last half-dozen years will turn with some interest to Mr. Sutton's remarks on Rye 

 Grass. He writes in no dubious tone.' A verbatim quotation of the above paragr«ph 

 is given, followed by these remarks:- — ' I am bound to express my concurrence with the 

 position Mr. Sutton takes up. Numerous confirmatory cases have come under my notice, 

 of which I need only mention one. In the natural herbage of the water-meadows 

 bordering the Hampshire Avon, Lolium perenne is, as I have found from repeated ob- 



