62 PEEMANENT AND TEMPOEAEY PASTUEES. 



LOLIUM VULGAEE. L. ANNUUM 

 {Common or Annual Bye Grass). 



The seed of this plant. is larger and flatter than that of the 

 Perennial and Italian varieties. It is almost as broad as the seed 

 of Bromus mollis, but is lighter and lacks the awn. The plant is 

 not so well known as it deserves to be, for it possesses valuable 

 properties, yielding a good bulk of nourishing herbage of a hght 

 green colour, and sending up a dense mass of flowering culms. 

 The roots being small are more easily got rid of when the ley 

 is ploughed than are the roots of the Perennial variety ; and 

 there is a general concurrence of opinion that for a plant of such 

 rapid growth it does not greatly impoverish the land for the next 

 crop. 



The objections which have been urged against the use of 

 Perennial Eye Grass in mixtures for permanent pastures are 

 largely owing to the improper employment of Annual Eye Grass 

 in its place. The latter is only adapted for one year's ley, and 

 its use in a permanent prescription is indefensible. Most of the 

 advantages of the annual variety can be obtained from its more 

 permanent relation, but reliable seed of the former is more 

 difficult to procure, and it is generally more expensive. 



LOLIUM ITALICUM 

 [Italian Bye Grass). 



I would preclude the possibility of a misunderstanding by 

 saying at once that this grass is only under consideration here in 

 its proper connection with alternate husbandry. In a permanent 

 pasture it is generally harmful, and the seed should rarely be in- 

 cluded in a prescription for that purpose. Itahan Eye Grass was 

 probably first cultivated in Lombardy, and spread thence through 

 Europe. It was introduced into England in 1831 by the late 

 Mr. Charles Lawson, of Edinburgh, an old friend of my father's. 



