59 
of the seeds are ripe, and, if this grass is abundant in the meadow, the farmer should 
then collect his seed. At Zurich, on the 5% June 7. e. at hay-time, 225 spikes of Meadow 
foxtail were cut, made into a sheaf, taken home, and dried. Two months after, Ysoz. of 
heavy seed was shaken out; the germination of this seed was 52 %o, a very high result 
for Foxtail. Five weeks later an additional '/soz. of seed was shaken out; the germination 
of this was 45 %o. The remaining seed 2/soz. was stripped off: of this only 9 °/o germin- 
ated. 225 spikes thus yielded: — 
Weight. (sermination. 
by 4° operation */s 52 %7/o 
gud f 4 45 °/o 
3rd 3 2/3 ) %o 
Total 4/2402. Average germination 23 °/o. 
Although the 34 lot of seed was of low quality the first two lots were good. The first seeds 
were heaviest, largest, and germinated best. 
400 seeds of the 1% lot weighed 0.375 gram 
oon 0.265 
9 7 ~ 7 
cP) 7 me 2? 3 1? 7 0.408 9 
By following this plan many farmers could easily obtain good seed of this valuable 
erass. Cutting the culms has this advantage, that the seed can be allowed to mature, 
whereas, if stripped from the spikes, maturation cannot go on. If, in the experiment men- 
tioned above, the seeds had been stripped off by hand, and then allowed to dry, the ger- 
mination would have been much lower. In harvesting this seed, it is of the utmost im- 
portance to arrange matters so that perfect maturity may be reached. Ripening commences 
at the apex of the spike, and gradually proceeds towards the base, i. e. the upper seeds 
are ripe before the lower. To obtain Meadow foxtail seed on a large scale, the grass is 
sown by itself. When ripe, the tops of the culms are cut off, brought home, and allowed 
to ripen in a dry airy place. When well dried, the seed is threshed out. By graduating 
the force of the threshing, various qualities of seed may be obtained. Stripping, for a seed- 
harvest, should be commenced when the spikelets are turning brown and beginning to fall 
away from the spike. Cutting, for seed, is begun somewhat earlier, to prevent loss. The first 
cutting is alone profitable for this purpose, Sprengel says: >The harvesting of ripe foxtail 
seed is very difficult. Each spike when yellow (ripe) must have its seed stripped off 
by hand. To prevent loss, and to obtain large produce, the grass should be grown in rows 
because the spikes ripen very unequally, and very readily allow the seed to fall away. 
The stripped seed should be spread out in a thin layer in an airy place, and left for 10 
or 12 days; if not turned daily, the germinating power diminishes.« 
Seeds of Holcus (lanatus and mollis) are frequent impurities. These are often in- Impurities and 
tentionally added, as they are very cheap, and externally somewhat similar to Meadow fox- atulterations. 
tail. Holcus is readily recognised by the glumes: — the hair 1s spare on the keels (fig. 
96 and 27) but abundant in Foxtail (plate IX, fig. 1). When the glumes are removed, the 
recognition of Holcus is still easy > — then it always appears as a white, shining body, 
composed of a caryopsis covered by the adhering pales (fig. 27¢) ; the caryopsis of Foxtail 
falls out of the pale and is yellow. Slender foxtail (Alopecurus agrestis, L.) is a common 
weed which is often used as an adulterant. Its seed differs from that of Meadow foxtail 
in the following points: — 1t 1s darker, heavier, not so strongly flattened, and firmer ; one 
