The Production of New and Improved Varieties of Timothy 345 



Dark nodes and light nodes. 

 Panicled heads and simple* heads. 

 Tall plants and short plants. 

 Broad leaves and narrow leaves. 

 Dense habit and spreading open habit. 



Of this planting there were 147 plats, each plat containing two rows of 

 sixteen plants each. The whole planting thus contained at first 4,704 

 plants, but many of them died, so that this number was soon greatly- 

 reduced. When the writer made his first observation in 1907 these plants 

 were producing their second crop, while those of the first planting were 

 producing their fourth crop. Thus they were all of suitable age to show 

 their characteristics well and the different characters and character com- 

 binations could be studied to advantage. Some of the variations will be 

 described briefly under the next heading. 



variations in timothy 

 (See Plates II to V) 



Size and form of plant. — The most striking difference observed on a 

 casual examination of a number of timothy plants is in the size of dif- 

 ferent individuals. Some are very tall and some very short and all 

 gradations in size between these two extremes can be found. They range in 

 height from about fifteen inches to fifty-five inches, with an average height 

 of about thirty-eight inches. This difference is further exaggerated by the 

 variation in thickness of various plants. Plants two years old and grown 

 side by side may form clumps varying in thickness from four inches to 

 eighteen inches, due to the variation in stooling power of the different 

 plants (compare Plate III, Fig. 4, and Plate V, Fig. 4). Some plants 

 stool abundantly and form numerous culms; others are lacking in vigor 

 and form only a few stools and thus develop only a few culms, resulting 

 in a plant of small size. In the same way and for the same reason the 

 number of culms varies greatly in different plants, varying in plants 

 two or three years old from a half dozen up to two hundred' and 

 fifty or more. Plants of the sam.e diameter may also vary greatly 

 in number of culms, giving with few culms an open plant (Plate II, 

 Figs. I, 6, and 7) and with many culms a very dense plant (Plate II, 

 Figs. 3 and 4). 



The above factors taken together are those that, primarily, make up the 

 variation in weight or in yield of hay. Plants of low stature and small 

 diameter, with few culms and open, have a low yield; while those that are 

 tall and large in diameter, with many cxdms and dense, give large yields. 



