AGRICULTURAL GRASSES 43 



DACTYLIS GLOMERATA 



(Rough Cocksfoot). 



This is one of the most widely distributed of all the 

 grasses. It is indigenous in hedgerows and ditches in almost 

 all parts of England, and shows considerable variations in 

 character in different soils and situations ; but prior to its 

 introduction from the United States in the eighteenth 

 century, Cocksfoot does not appear to have been sown for 

 agricultural purposes. On dry calcareous land the plant 

 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 soils in low-lying districts, where it produces a 

 great quantity of leafy herbage. 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, growing 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 fetch- 

 ing 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 computed that an acre of Cocksfoot will 

 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 

 have unfortunately been ruined by a sowing of the seed, 



