GRASSES OF MINOR IMPORTANCE 1 79 



THE RYE-GRASSES : ENGLISH RYE-GRASS {Lolium 

 perenne) — ITALIAN RYE-GRASS {Lolium italicum) 



These grasses are even less popular in this country 

 than the fescues; in fadt, they are practically un- 

 known here, except on the Pacific Coast west of the 

 Cascade Mountains, and in a few places in the South. 

 Yet they are the most important grasses of Europe. 

 It is not at all easy to account for their lack of popu- 

 larity on this side of the Atlantic. Stock certainly 

 prefer them to all other cultivated grasses; their seed 

 is fairly reliable, though their scarcity in the markets 

 renders them high-priced, and they yield well on soil 

 suited to them. Although they do not yield so well 

 as timothy, it would seem that the superiority of the 

 herbage they produce ought to give them a place 

 among American farm grasses. There is, of course, 

 the same difficulty with their seed that is met with in 

 the case of most imported grass-seed : we get only 

 inferior quality, as a rule. The fadl that more seed per 

 acre is necessary than is the case with timothy, and that 

 it is more costly, added to the somewhat poor quality 

 of seed found in our markets, probably accounts, to 

 some extent at least, for their lack of standing. It 

 may be, too, that they are not adapted to our climatic 

 conditions, for it is frequently the case that crops that 

 flourish in Western Europe are adapted only to our 

 Pacific Coast States. Certain it is that the rye-grasses 

 have gained no foothold to speak of in this country, 

 except on the Pacific Coast. 



On irrigated plains in northern Italy, and on sandy 

 lands in the vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland, irrigated 

 by sewage from the city, Italian rye-grass yields enor- 



