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91 
It thrives on all kinds of soil except such as are wet and sour. Its appropriate place 
in cultivation is on light dry soils, especially those which are poor, shallow, and silicious. 
In such cases, it is a great boon to the agriculturist. 
1000 lbs. of hay of genuine sheep’s fescue remove from the soil: — 
Nitrogen . A $127. ths. Magnesia . ; 0.6 Ibs. 
Phosphoric Acid 4.6 ,, Lime : 2.5 5, 
Potash ; . 16.8 ,, Silica : . EE daxbl 3 
Soda ; ‘ baa Sulphuric Acid . ee 
According to Hruschauer, 1000 tbs. of hay of genuine sheep’s fescue (the glaucous variety) 
removes from a calcareous soil: — 
Phosphoric Acid 3.0 Ibs. Lime ; : 6.5 Ibs. 
Potash : edie: Silica ; ; 6.04, 
Soda ‘ : bar. 3; Sulphuric Acid . yee 
Magnesia . 2.3 4; 
On sandy soils, sheep’s fescue should be sown after a manured root crop. If the 
land can be irrigated other and better grasses should take its place. 
Growth, yield, nutritive value. Sheep’s fescue forms a compact tuft of grass which 
produce numerous culms 8 to 24 inches high, ‘he radical leaves are dry and hard, and the 
culm leaves few. The tufts are not deeply seated in the ground, and, as the grass gets 
older, they become more and more prominent, and the mowing is correspondingly difficult. 
The tufted mode of growth shows clearly that this grass by itself cannot form a complete 
cover for the ground, bare spaces must occur between the tufts. 
During the year of sowing, the produce is very small. In the second and third years, 
the maximum yield is obtained. Afterwards, the produce diminishes. A pure sowing of 
sheep’s fescue ought, therefore, to be ploughed up after a ley of four years. A mixture con- 
taining a large percentage of sheep’s fescue should be treated in the same way. About the 
beginning of April, the green leaves appear, and by the end of May, or the beginning of 
June, the grass is in flower. 
Depasturing must commence very early, because the leaves soon harden, and then 
they are not eaten by sheep. In dry weather growth stops, but later in the year, when 
the weather is moist, growth begins again. In favorable seasons depasturing can go 
on until winter. 
Vianne obtained 4,180 lbs. of hay per acre from hard fescue, whereas Biirger obtained only 
1,280 lbs. per acre from a crop of genuine sheep’s fescue. On poor soil, the yield is thus very small. 
According to Vianne, 100 Ibs. of grass give 38 lbs. of hay; according to Block, 35 to 40 lbs. These 
figures show that the proportion of water lost by drying is relatively small. 
According to the Swiss analyses 100 Ibs. of hay of Festuca ovina genuina contain 78°2 °/o 
of organic matter, composed of: — 
Nitrogenous matter (N >< 6°25). et <i i 7.4 °/o 
(albuminoid nitrogen 0°739 °/o, non-albuminoid nitrogen 0.438 °/o) 
Fat ; j . : ; F 3.0 °/o 
Fibre. : 2 ; 341.6 °/o 
Non-nitrogenous extractives, : 36,2 °/o 
Soil. 
Substances 
removed 
from the soil. 
Manure. 
Growth. 
Development. 
Depasturing. 
Yield. 
Nutritive 
value. 
