58 PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY PASTURES 



regarded as especially a pasture grass ; for hay it is of small 

 utility, and the lattermath is inconsiderable. Sinclair believed 

 it to attain perfection in the second year, and limited its 

 duration to seven or eight years. 



In the absence of the flowering culm, the reddish purple 

 base of the short sheaths, and the long, flexuous, shining, deep 

 green, half-closed leaves, together with the pale-red underground 

 stolons, are a sufficient guide in determining this variety. 



The seed resembles that of Festuca duriuscula, but is 

 larger and germinates well — decidedly better in the open air 

 than under artificial conditions. 



LOLIUM PERENNE 

 {Perennial Rye Grass). 



An American writer enumerates between sixty and 

 seventy varieties of Rye 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 of distinct varieties may be reduced to about half 

 a dozen. In the United States, moreover, the term Rye 

 Grass is applied to several species of Elymus ; hence it is 

 necessary to make sure as to the species concerned when 

 reading American observations on Rye Grass. 



Lolium percnne was the first grass gathered separately for 

 agricultural purposes. It is better known and more frequently 

 used than any other species, and notwithstanding the assertions 

 that it is biennial and not perennial, I am satisfied that it is 

 entitled to the name by which it has been known since 1611, 

 the date of the earliest agricultural book which mentions it. 

 That this grass is not perennial on all soils, nor under adverse 

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

 are. But when seed of true Perennial Rye Grass is sown on 



