tough, it is nutritious and eagerly eaten by sheep and to a less degree by cattle. Sheep fescue is an excellent grass to grow on poor sandy soil, especially in mixtures, as it helps to make a durable grass sward. Alone it is too bunchy to be desirable. The commercial seed of sheep fescue comes from Europe. It is easily gathered and is low in price. Weight of seed of sheep fescue per bushel-pounds-- 10 to 15 Number of seeds in Red fescue (Festuca rubra L.; fig. 19) is very similar to sheep fescue, but the leaves are bright green and the plant does not grow in tufts but creeps by underground stems, so that one plant may eventually cover a circle 2 to 4 feet in diameter. Red fescue occurs throughout the Northern Hemisphere in cold and temperate regions and has many varieties. Only two of these varieties are used in agriculture, namely, genuine red fescue (F. rubra genuina), the seed of which comes from Europe, and Chewings fescue (F. rubra fallax), abundant in New Zealand, whence the seed supplies come. FIGURE 18.-Sheep fescue (Festuca ovina L.) FIGURE 19.-Red fescue (Festuca rubra, L.) Red fescue is used mainly as a lawn plant, but it is by no means valueless for pasture. On sandy or gravelly soil it makes exquisite lawns. It will withstand more shade than most grasses and is therefore valuable for shady lawns. On account of the fine quality of turf which it produces, it is much used on golf courses, particularly if the soil is sandy. Weight of seed of red fescue per bushel-----pounds__ 10 to 15 Number of seeds in 1 pound 500,000 Usual rate of seeding per acre ---pounds_ PARA GRASS 30 Para grass (Panicum barbinode Trinius; fig. 20) is a perennial, probably native of South America. It is readily distinguished by being covered with short hairs, which are longer and bristly at the nodes, and by its long creeping stems, often 30 feet long and as large as a lead pencil. Para grass is now commonly cultivated in most tropical countries. It is usually fed green and is often sold in bundles in the market. It is grown somewhat commonly in Florida, to a rapidly increasing extent in southern Texas, and here and there throughout the Gulf coast region. It makes its best growth on damp soils, though it has been fairly successful on Texas ranches on heavy soils without irrigation where irrigation is needed for most other crops. It is not injured by prolonged overflows and makes a vigorous growth where the land has been under water for several weeks. It is especially valuable for planting on the margins of ponds and on soils too wet and seepy for the cultivation of other crops. It is used for both hay and pasture. Para grass will not withstand a lower temperature than about 18° F. It is therefore adapted only to the extreme southern portion of the country, and perhaps to southern California. It has succeeded as far north as Charleston, S. C. Para grass is usually propagated by planting pieces of the running stems. Such pieces 6 to 12 inches long and having three or four joints grow rapidly when simply pushed into freshly plowed ground, so propagation is neither difficult nor expensive. The first growth from the cuttings is in long prostrate runners nearly as thick as a lead pencil, but as soon as the ground is fairly well covered the branches become nearly erect, soon reaching a height of 3 or 4 feet; so the closer the cuttings are planted the sooner a crop for mowing will be produced. Cuttings may be planted at any time from early spring until as late as September, though late plantings will make little growth until the following season. If wanted for hay, Para grass should be cut when it reaches a height of 3 to 4 feet. From three to five cuttings may be made in a season, and as 1 to 3 tons of hay per acre are obtained at each cutting the total yield is heavy. The hay is rather coarse. FIGURE 20. Para grass (Panicum barbinode Trinius): A and B, A single spikelet view from before and behind. (× 5) FIGURE 21.-Japanese_millet (Echinochloa crusgalli but is of excellent quality if cut as soon as it has made sufficient growth and before the stems become hard and woody. When the grass is allowed to stand too long before cutting the stems become woody and unpalatable. Para grass may be grown from the seed, but seed has never been handled in commercial quantities, as vegetative propagation is so easy. JAPANESE MILLET Japanese millet (Echinochloa crusgalli edulis Hitchcock; E. crusgalli frumentacea (Roxburgh) W. F. Wight; fig. 21) was originally described from India. In early times it was grown extensively in Japan, hence the name Japanese millet. It is also called barnyard millet, being now regarded by high authorities as merely a cultivated variety of barnyard grass (E. crusgalli (L.) Beauvois). It is easily distinguished from foxtail millet by the different shape of the head and the absence of bristles. Japanese millet will grow better in cool regions than will foxtail millet and so in the United States is most important in New England and the northern tier of States, but it will thrive in practically every part of the country. It is a taller and coarser edulis Hitchcock): E. crusgalli frumentacea (Rox- plant than any of the burgh) W. F. Wight foxtail millets and can be utilized as green feed, silage, or hay. Weight of seed of Japanese millet per bushel pounds 32 to 35 The Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lamarck; L. italicum R. Brown; fig. 22) is readily distinguished from perennial ryegrass by the awn on each floret and by the young leaves being inrolled at first. grass is not truly an annual, but under farm conditions few of the plants live more than one year. Each plant under favorable conditions makes a round bunch with 20 or more flowering shoots 112 to 3 feet high. Many varieties have been distinguished, based on different criteria. Argentine ryegrass is an annual the seed of which is produced in Argentina. Westerwold ryegrass is a selection that lives two years; Pacey's ryegrass in modern trade is merely the small or short seeds that are screened out from the larger ones. Italian ryegrass is an important hay plant in Europe, where under proper manuring and irrigation it produces four to eight cuttings in |