Rye Grass, or Ray Grass (_Lolium perenne_, fig. 17), has no connection with the Cereal Rye. It is one of our commonest and most useful species, both as a plant for the natural meadow or for arable culture, especially in mixture with clovers, which has the name of “seeds.” It yields good bulk for the rick, and will so readily grow after cutting or close depasturing that it commonly affords the greater part of the herbage of a pasture. From being so valuable, its seed has been much cultivated; and as it has a tendency to form more or less permanent varieties, so we find in the market several different sorts; as “Pacey’s, Ruck’s, Russell’s, Stickney’s, Rye Grass,” &c. It should always form part in any mixture in laying down permanent pasture, in which case it should be distinguished from the _Lolium Italicum_, the florets and seeds of which are awned-pointed, as at _a_. This latter is useful as an annual self-crop, but seedsmen too often mix it in permanent-pasture collections, for the reason that it grows faster, and so makes a show the first year, and so satisfies the customer; but it soon dies out, while its large growth has kept under the more enduring forms. _b_ represents a bunch of the tumid flowers of the _Lolium temulentum_ (Drunken Darnel), once a pest in cornfields, but now, fortunately, of rare occurrence, if we are to believe the tales told of its so-called poisonous seeds. [Illustration: _Fig. 18._ The Cocksfoot.] The Cocksfoot (_Dactylis glomerata_, fig. 18), though a large and somewhat coarse grass, is by no means inferior in quality, its hay being highly nutritious, whilst its cut or cropped herbage is so quick of growth that it is capable of yielding a great deal of keep. It sends its root deep into the soil, so that it can grow well in poor land if dry; but it never flourishes in very wet situations. It is constant in good meadows, unless when they are always depastured, as there the constant treading greatly interferes with it: it is, therefore, by no means so abundant in sheep pastures; whence has arisen the idea with some farmers that “too much sheep-grazing wears out the richer grasses.” We should always recommend cocksfoot as a part of mixtures for permanent pasture, taking care to well roll the meadow once or twice a year—a process of great importance—to keep the turf in an even pile, and so prevent that growing of large clusters or hassocks of one sort, a method of growth to which the cocksfoot is somewhat prone. [Illustration: _Fig. 19._ The Rough-stalked Meadow Grass.]