Substances 
removed 
from the soil. 
Manure. 
Growth. 
Development, 
Yield. 
Nutritive 
value. 
Harvesting 
the seed. 
Yield. 
50 
4000 lbs. of hay remove from the soil: — 
Nitrogen. . . . 44.3 Ibs. Lime, 3 ps4 en ales: 
Phosphoric acid . 4.5 ,, Magnesia. . 1.5 ,, 
Potash 9. » “ep e0ip Sc, Silica; 4 uo <° 269 
SOda> & ase ee ee ee Sulphuric acid 2.2 ,, 
In comparison with other grasses, Yorkshire fog removes from the soil a large pro- 
portion of potash; further analyses are however necessary. 
Although it thrives on well-manured land, its produce does not repay manuring. 
Growth, Yield, Nutritive value. This grass forms cushion-like, compact tufts, which 
are very difficult to mow. Its tufts are a great eyesore in a good meadow. Numerous 
culms 2—3 ft. in height are produced. Holcus as already mentioned, is a comparatively 
early grass, since its leaves are out in March and its flowers in May. When cutting is 
delayed till after flowering, much nutritive value is lost, seed falls into the eround, and 
the plant reproduces itself. Its seed forms one of the main constituents of »hay flowers< ; 
sometimes as much as 50 °/ is unripe Holcus. 
Sinclair obtained the following produce, per acre, from a clay loam: — 
Green. Dry. 
At middle of April . . 4,764 Ibs. — 
On flowering .. . . 49,057 ,, 6,194 Ibs. 
At the time the seedis ripe 19,057 ,, 3,044 ,, 
Atternmsth , <= % =) Fe.) 806. .; — 
Vianne obtained a yield of 6,950 Ibs. of hay per acre, from a fertile loamy sand. 
The grass is not readily eaten by cattle, because of the fine covering of hairs. Sir 
Humphrey Davy recommended sprinkling with salt, in order to make the hairs moist and 
limp, and thus render the grass more palatable. Before using, its hay should always be 
finely chopped, and mixed with other fodder. 100 lbs. of hay contain 79.5 °/o of organic 
matter composed of: — 
Albumin No Se B25) ee ee kA dss 
Fibre) i oe gue) 6 se le fl see! cate iG. 
Non-nitrogenous extractives . . . 31.6 ,, 
MAG Sh a nien DO) EN ce tay Be, 
Compared with other grasses, the proportion of albumin is small. As yet the pro- 
portions of digestible, nutritive material have not been determined, but in any case, the 
amounts must be small, since the plant is so hairy. It may be taken as a general rule, 
that any fodder which is not liked by stock is more difficult to digest than another 
which is more readily eaten. 
Harvesting, Impurities and Adulteration of seed. Commercial seed of Holcus is usually 
merely the cleanings of Perennial rye-grass. In Scotland, where Holcus is a frequent im- 
purity of rye-grass, its seed is separated, after threshing, by the winnowers. In this way 
a number of empty rye-grass pales pass over with it; therefore the seed of Holcus has 
only 80 to 40 °/o purity ; the rest of the seed consists chiefly of chaff of Perennial rye-grass. 
Some commercial seed is obtained from Germany. There, it is collected from the wild 
plant, in wood-clearings and the like. Cultivation for seed-production is not profitable, 
for, although the collection is easy, the price which the seed fetches, is very low. 
Werner gives the average yield of seed as about 100 lbs. per acre, 
