942 



Rural School Leaflet 



the forage is coarse and does not make good feed for cows and horses. 

 We find that there are only a few grasses that produce both good seed and 

 good forage. 



Grasses are known as " bunch " grasses or " sod " grasses. Timothy- 

 is a sod-forming grass, because each bunch tends to spread every season 

 until bunches near one another intermingle and form a sod. 



Have you ever seen the corms on a timothy plant? A corm is similar 



to a very small potato and grows underground. 

 If you dig up a timothy plant in the fall, a 

 large number of corms will be found; they are 

 swollen parts of the underground stem. These 

 corms give rise to new plants and are an im- 

 portant means by which the timothy plant 

 propagates itself from year to year. In fact, 

 the old timothy plants and roots appear to die 

 out more or less every year, and if it were 

 not for these corms there is some doubt as to 

 whether a timothy meadow would last for 

 more than a year or two. 



How long does a timothy meadow last? 

 When the farmer cuts timothy for hay 

 he has two points to consider: first, he must 

 not cut it when too green or when in blos- 

 som, or it will make dusty hay; also, the crop 

 increases about one fourth in weight from 

 the time it is in bloom until it is ripe, so that 

 he does not secure so large a yield when the 

 hay is cut in blossom. On the other hand, 

 ripe hay is not relished by animals; also, allowing the hay to ripen 

 exhausts the roots and weakens the sod for another crop. The proper 

 time to cut is about 7 to lo days after blossoming, when the seed is in 

 the " dough " stage but not ripe. 



A neighborhood study of timothy. — By inquiry find out what proportion 

 of all the land in your school district is in hay; in cultivated crops; in 

 pasture; in forest. 



How much of the hay land is pure timothy? How much is timothy and 

 clover mixed ? 



How much hay per acre is produced in your district? 



Improving timothy sods. — The average yield of timothy in New York State 



is I.I ton per acre. Compare this with the yield in your neighborhood. 



A heavy dressing of manure has often doubled the yield of old 



meadows. At the Cornell University farm an old meadow yielding 



Timothy plant 



