16 BULLETIN 545, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
1, and by August 20 the main seed crop has ripened. The seed has 
a high power of germination. The average for all tests made was 
71.5 per cent, with a minimum germination of 59.5 per cent. 
Owing to its rank growth blue joint is better suited to cattle and 
horses than to sheep, yet the latter eat the leaf blades, though rarely 
the flower stalks even when young. Because of its restriction to 
moist situations, it is not very abundant, and consequently fur- 
nishes a comparatively small amount of forage. 
Tufted Hair-Grass. 
(Deschampsia caespitosa.) 
Tufted hair-grass (Deschampsia - caespitosa) is a member of the 
same tribe as cultivated oats. Though from its general appearance 
this fact would not be recognized, yet botanically they are closely 
related. Tufted hair-grass is often mistaken for redtop, mainly 
because of its loose panicle, but morphologically it is very different. 
Redtop has but one flower in a spikelet, while tufted hair-grass has 
two perfect flowers. 
The genus Deschampsia is represented by about 20 species, adapted 
mainly to the cold and temperate regions. About 6 species are 
found in the western part of the United States. 
Tufted hair-grass is a perennial tufted species with rather deep and 
spreading fibrous roots. The culms are from H to 3 feet tall, erect, 
and smooth, or in some specimens slightly rough, the leaves mainly 
basal and very numerous, flat, and often ascending to half the length 
of the culms. The spikelets, bearing two perfect flowers, are small 
and shiny, and the panicle is open, the branches widely spreading. 
Both the empty and the flowering glumes are shiny in appearance 
(Plate XII). The latter are notched at the apex and bear a short 
awn on the back. 
This species is rarely found in dry situations, but grows abundantly 
in moist meadows, canyons, and bottom lands, where it frequently 
predominates. Concerning its density of stand and rankness of 
growth F. Lamson-Scribner l states that is has a record of producing 
10,209 pounds of green and 3,318 pounds of dry hay per acre. The 
minimum amount of soil water with which it will grow varies between 
11.5 and 14.5 per cent. In soils containing less than this amount 
of moisture the wilted leaf blades failed to regain their turgidity. 
The first flower stalks appear about July 20, and their production 
continues until about August 15. As with most species in moist 
soils, the flower stalks are not produced as early as in the drier 
situations. The time required for the development of the seeds is 
rather prolonged, and well-matured seeds are rarely found until 
i Economic Grasses, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. Agrost. Bui. 14, p. 32, 1900. 
