496 Bulletin 280. 



were used singly and in mixtures. The grass plots ran north and south. 

 They were numbered from i to 16. 



The grasses which were used in the experiment were as follows: 

 Kentucky blue-grass, red-top, meadow fescue, timothy, orchard-grass, 

 smooth brome, meadow foxtail, perennial rye, tall oat-grass and hard 

 fescue. The clovers were sown the following spring and included alsike, 

 red and white clovers. In one case a small amount of alfalfa was 

 included. Kentucky blue-grass was sown alone on plots i, 4, 8, 12 and 16, 

 and these were considered as check plots. Red-top, meadow fescue, 

 timothy, orchard -grass and smooth brome were also sown singly. The 

 remaining plots received mixtures of grasses and clovers. 



At the time of seeding, the seedbed was in very excellent condition. 

 The weather was favorable for a quick germination of seeds. A warm 

 gentle rain fell the next day after the seeds were sown. The germination 

 of timothy, red-top, meadow fescue and smooth brome was rapid. All 

 these were showing well in eleven days after sowing. The germination 

 of Kentucky blue-grass was much slower. On October 23 this grass 

 had appeared only one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch above the 

 surface of the ground. In general the stand was not good on these 

 plots. The same was true of the orchard-grass and brome-grass plots. 

 The brome-grass plot was seeded for the third time in September, 1904. 

 The first and second seedings were entirely unsatisfactory. During 

 the summer of this year a small patch of smooth brome was cut on the 

 University farm from which was secured eight pounds of seed. This 

 was sown on the half-acre plot after the land had been disked, but it 

 failed to produce a stand of grass. During November of this year 

 there was practically no grass on parts of this plot, while in some places 

 there was about one-half a stand. 



A crop of rye was taken from this field during the summer of 1904. 

 The pasture was used the following year. The cows were turned in on 

 June 3, 1905, by which time the grasses had made a good start. The 

 cows were not forced to eat what they could get, but had considerable 

 choice as to the grasses which they liked best. During the greater 

 part of the season, the cattle were not upon the pasture during the 

 night and were taken out about three o'clock in the afternoon. From 

 that date until the present the pasture has been used as a day pasture 

 for cows. No stable manure or fertilizers have been added since the 

 second year when the check plots in the fertilizer series received ten 

 loads of manure per acre. The pasture has been clipped in July for the 

 past three years. In the spring of 1909, 40 pounds each of timothy, 



