wee ee ee Pee ee ae 
109 
for this reason, the grass should, if possible, be cut before that stage is reached. The after- 
math is not great, because it consists only of leaves; it is, however, greater than that of 
the hard fescue. The leaves of the second cutting remain green till the middle of winter. 
Depasturing must take place as early as possible, since the grass soon becomes hard and 
is then avoided by stock. 
The yield depends greatly on the nature of soil. Sinclair obtained from a light sandy soil 10,209 Ibs. 
of grass or 4339 Ibs. (38.8 ewt.) of hay per acre. From a rich black sand, incumbent on clay, he obtained from 
the var. dumetorum 5445 Ibs. (49 ewt.) of hay per acre. Vianne obtained 3300 lbs. (30 cwt.) per acre. 
100 Ibs. of grass give, according to Vianne 42 lbs., according to Sinclair 43 lbs. of hay. At 
the Swiss station, 100 Ibs. of hay of Festuca rubra, ew-rubra, genuina, grandiflora cut on the 30" of 
June shortly before flowering, contained 79.1 lbs. of organic matter composed of: 
Nitrogenous matter (Nitrogen < 6.25. ; ; 4.9 %/o 
(albuminoid-nitrogen 0.64 °/o non-albuminoid nitrogen 
0.18 °/o) 
Fat . : k : ; ’ , ; ; 2.4 %o 
Fibre. ‘ ; ; , : 1. 33,5 "fo 
Non-nitrogenous extractives. : ; e S8 
According to Ritthausen & Scheven, it contains 80.4°/o organic matter composed of: 
Nitrogenous matter : ; ; 7.8 Vo 
Fat ; : : : t 1.6 °/o 
Eprom eee neem oe ry FPS 8 BZ 
Non-nitrogenous extractives.  8t8%/ 
During and after flowering, the amount of nutriment is thus less than that of hay 
of medium quality. 
Harvesting, impurities and adulteration of seed. Seed for commercial purposes is not 
cultivated on a large scale, but gathered from wild plants, which are ready for cutting 
about the middle of July. When the panicles, have become contracted, the tops of the 
culms are cut off and allowed to ripen in the barn. The cutting must not be delayed too 
long because many seeds fall away and are lost. 
Commercial seed labelled Festuca rubra cannot be relied upon. Sheep's 
fescue, various-leaved fescue, and tufted red fescue (Festuca fallax) are com- 
monly substituted for it. Creeping fescue is seldom obtained, although the 
plant itself is not rare. Unfortunately it is very difficult, at times even 
impossible, to distinguish the seeds of these grasses. The seed of 
various-leaved fescue is the largest; the long, narrow form, and the pale, 
eradually tapering off into the awn, are the most characteristic points, It 
is impossible to distinguish the seed of tufted and creeping red fescues 
while those of sheep’s fescue are usually shorter (compare the botanical 
descriptions of the false fruits of these grasses and the drawings on 
plates XVI, XVIIT and XX). Fig. 46. 
, ; nA ‘ é Soft Brome. 
Under the name of Lestuca dumetorum, Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co. — Bromus mollis, L. 
of Paris supply a seed which was grown and determined by Hackel as the a. False fruit, natural 
BP ghee A , oN seein size ; 
var. grandiflora of creeping fescue. b. the same, magnified, 
a ee ae | neh GPa oe eh al wus = dorsal surface ; 
Che following impurities are met with; soft Brome (Bromus mollis, ¢ the same, ventral 
sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella) etc. Wavy hair grass (Aira flexuosa) c aged 
, a aa “hk gre ; . the caryopsis, mag- 
(fig. XX), is distinguished by the basal awn the loose pales which _nified. ae 
Yield. 
Harvesting 
the seed. 
Impurities and 
adulteration 
Impurities. 
