36 FORAGE CEOPS IN NEBRASKA. 



mon bluegra^is of the New Pjiigland and Northeastern States, and in 

 some localities is called wire grass and also English bliiegrass. It is 

 adapted to somewhat more sterile soil than Kentucky bliicgrass, but 

 on the whole is scarcely to be recoumiended for Nebraska. The 

 ♦'jtation trial of this grass was unsatisfactory. 



Rbdtop. 



Redtop {A<frostis alha and ^1. vulgaris) is a native of Europe and 

 also of the northern parts of North America. In the Eastern States, 

 especially from Pennsylvania southward, this grass is more commonly 

 known as herd's grass. Redtop is widely cultivated and is noAv found 

 growing wild through all the region indicated for timoth}". Like 

 l)luegrass and white clover, it is now a common constituent of meadows 

 and pastures even where it was not sown. It is particularh^ adapted 

 to moist soils and is always recommended as a constituent of meadows 

 or pastures on low ground. It is, however, inferior in quality to the 

 other grasses mentioned, and also on ordinary dry ground it is inferior 

 to them in quantity . It is to be recommended for moist meadows in 

 the eastern part of the State and also for those localities in the sand- 

 hills and other portions of western Nebraska wdiere the soil is too 

 moist for the growth of ordinary meadoAv grasses. 



As the seed o))tained in the market usually contains a large amount 

 of chaff it is necessarj^ to sow a correspondingly large (j[uantity of seed. 

 A half bushel of clean seed per acre is probably sufficient, ])ut it ma}^ 

 be necessary to increase this to 2 bushels if the seed is chaff3^ AVhen 

 sown in mixtures, as is usually the case, a much less quantity may be 

 used. A common mixture is 3 pounds of alsike clover, 4 pounds of 

 timoth}", and ■! poiaids of redtop. Botanically there is a slight differ- 

 ence })etween Agrodli. alha and ^i. vulgaris^ but the seed upon the 

 market may be of either variet3^ A variety known as creeping bent 

 {A. doloirlfera^ of the seed catalogues) is often used as a lawn grass in 

 the Eastern States. A related species, Rhode Island bent {A. canina)^ 

 is also used as a lawn grass, but in Nebraska ])oth these grasses are 

 inferior to bluegrass for this purpose. 



Redtop has been grown upon the Nebraska Station farm for several 

 years and has been found to be entirely adapted to this region. 



Side-oats Grama. 



The first seeding of side-oats grama {Bouteloua cxirtipendula), also 

 called prairie oats and tall grama, was made in 1897. It gave the 

 same year a yield of hay amounting to nearly two tons per acre, and 

 the following year the product was nearly four tons per acre. The 

 grass was partially killed during the unprocedentedl}' cold winter of 

 1899. Being a native, it is not injured ])y ordinarily cold weather. 

 Seed sown in 1900 produced a good stand the first year but no crop. 



