32 FORAGE CROPS IN NEBRASKA. 



bluograss, and the term' English bluegrass is sometimes appHed to a 

 ditterent plant. 



A closely allied grass is tall fescue {Festuca elatlor). Botanicall}^ 

 they are usually considered to he the same species, but agriculturally 

 there is considerable difference, and, for Nebraska conditions, in favor 

 of the meadow fescue. 



For further notes upon this grass see the paragraph upon grass 

 mixtures. 



One plot, 76 by 132 feet in size, sown in the spring of 1900 and 

 manured in the fall of 1901, gave on June 23, 1902, 7.50 pounds of hay, 

 or 3,150 pounds per acre. The grass was injured somewhat by the 

 drought of 1901, but recovered sufficiently to give good fall pasture. 

 The fourth year, June 16, 1903. this plot gave a cutting of hay of 670 

 pounds, or at the rate of 2,836 pounds per acre. 



Another plot (one-eighth acrei drilled in rows on May 25, 1897, gave 

 on June 27, 1900, a cutting o, 800 pounds of hay, or at the rate of 

 2,400 pounds per acre. The growth in the following years was good, 

 but the notes show that the grass does not start to grow so early in 

 the spring as brome-grass. 



Eight growers of meadow fescue have reported upon their results. 

 All report that their fields are now in good condition, but the reports 

 are etiually divided as to the advantages of spring and fall sowing, 

 while five state that it is easier to obtain a stand of this than of other 

 grass. Several have tried meadow fescue mixed with timothy, clover, 

 or alfalfa, all of which trials were successful. 



Orchakd Gkass. 



Orchard grass {Dactylis glomeratd) is a native of Europe, ))ut has 

 been cultivated in this country since the middle of the eighteenth 

 century. It is a Inmch grass, and when sown alone forms tufts which 

 in time become large tussocks, considerably raised above the general 

 surface of the soil. This is a hindrance to the mowing machine and 

 also a waste of land. For this reason it is recommended that orchard 

 grass be combined with some other grass, for which purpose meadow 

 fescue and brome-grass are best adapted to Nebraska conditions. 



Orchard grass is one of the most nutritious and palatable of the 

 cultivated meadow grasses. It thrives in more shaded situations than 

 other meadow grasses, for which reason it is often planted in 

 orchards; hence the name. It withstands drought better than timo- 

 thy, and consequently can be grown farther west in Nebraska than 

 can timothy. The chief disadvantage of orchard grass is the greater 

 expense of the seed. 



Orchard grass and meadow fescue, sometimes combined with red 

 clover, are to be recommended especially for pasture in that part of 

 Nebraska west of the timothy belt as far as about the ninety-ninth 



