Orchard Grass 623 



Orchard grass furnishes abundant forage and, if harvested 

 promptly after full bloom, makes a very palatable hay. The stems 

 become rather coarse and woody, however, as they mature, and 

 unless cut at the proper time it makes a rather coarse hay. A 

 heavy leaf growth is made near the ground, and, when the stems 

 are kept down by close cropping or frequent clipping, an abund- 

 ance of nutritious herbage for pasture is produced. 



CLIMATIC AND SOIL ADAPTATIONS 



Orchard grass will grow farther south and in warmer and drier 

 regions than will timothy and blue grass. It is more easily injured 

 by winter freezing and late frosts than either of these grasses 

 and is most useful in those regions toward the south of the timothy 

 and blue^grass belt. Its ability to grow well on diy hill lands 

 makes it of especial value in those regions where timothy and blue 

 grass are liable to be destroyed by the hot, dry weather of mid- 

 summer. In the cooler regions, particularly in the I*^orth Atlantic 

 and New England states, it is not regarded as valuable as timothy 

 for hay or as blue grass for pasture, although it may be used profit- 

 ably in mixtures with these grasses. 



It is cultivated most extensively in the United States along the 

 southern border of the timothy region, particularly in Virginia, 

 West Virginia, I^orth Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, southern 

 Missouri, and northern Arkansas. This distribution is apparently 

 due to competition with timothy and blue grass. Toward the 

 north of this region timothy and blue grass are better than orchard 

 grass, but here the summers are too hot and dry for timothy and 

 blue grass to succeed well. In fact, in these regions timothy is 

 usually confined to the better and more moist valley and bottom 

 lands, while orchard grass replaces it on the higher and drier 

 lands. 



Orchard grass has rather wide soil adaptations, growing well 

 on fairly sandy soils to heavy clays. While it prefers a moderate 

 amount of moisture, it is one of the best grasses for thin, dry, and 

 stony lands. This characteristic makes it well suited for both 

 hay and pasture on the dry hill lands of the Virginias, Kentucky, 

 Tennessee, and southern Missouri. In direct contrast with its 

 adaptation to dry hill lands is its ability to grow in cool, wet, 



