CATTLE FOODS. 33 



and nothing is grown more clu'ivply on land that jnst snits it. The 

 crops I have previonsly named, except oats, all do best on rather 

 warm land, snch as is not the very best for growing successive crops 

 of hay without frequent re-dressing. 



Nor are all grasses alike in their habits of growth or actual value 

 for hay. Orchard grass, {Drn^ti/Jis gJomernfa) is a grass that should, 

 I think, be better known by New England Farmers. It is one of the 

 earliest to ripen, coming into flower with the June or Kentiiek}' 

 blue grass, {Poa pratensis) sometimes called spear grass, and like 

 that is remarkable for its habit of producing heavy second, and even 

 third crops the same season ; and mainly composed of long, soft 

 leaves, which make the very best quality of rowen hay. My rule for 

 seeding an early mowing is two bushels orchard grass (28 lbs.), one 

 bushel June grass (14 lbs.), and eight to twelve pounds common 

 red clover. Have sown fields early in the spring, which have 

 yielded three heavy cuttings the same 3'ear ; and have sown in 

 August and had a crop to cut in October. 



I prefer to sow, usually, the last of Jul}' or first of August, as 

 orchard grass is too tender to bear very late fall seeding. After 

 the first year it is as hard}' as other grasses. 



Orchard grass should be put on the best grass land, such as may 

 be expected under high manuring to produce heavy rowen crops 

 every season. Dry lands, like sandy plains, or gravelly knolls, 

 are unsuited to it, so are level meadows that are over-flowed in 

 winter and liable to be covered b}- a coating of ice. It is ver}^ 

 desirable not to have the haying season come aW at once. Early 

 and late varieties, if kept separate, enable one to push his haying 

 leisurely, making it possible to cut each variety at the verN'best time, 

 which is not the case when Timothy, red-top and clover only are 

 grown, and these mixed in the same field. 



The very latest crop for feeding green, except cabbages, that I 

 have yet grown, is winter rye and barley, sown together at the rate 

 of from one to one and one-half Imshels of seed per acre of each 

 variety. Winter rye sown very earl}' in autumn on rich land, will 

 sometimes make so heavy a growth, as to endanger the crop winter- 

 ing safely, and yet it may not pay very well for mowing ; but if 

 barley is sown with it the two together will turn out a large, hcav}' 

 swath. The barley running up with a strong stem helps some- 

 what to support the rye and prevent it from lodging or pressing too 

 closely on the ground. I have had but one season's experience 

 3 



