FARM DEPARTMENT. 271 



not quite, mature. Few of the plants had more than small heads just formed, 

 while many of them had none. Either fact would make them of little value 

 for ensilage. 



GRASSES AND CLOVERS. 



One acre plats of the following grasses and clovers were sown in experi- 

 mental field No. 3. The ground is rather sandy, especially where the 

 Alfalfa is sown. It received a good dressing of manure, and was plowed 

 seven inches deep, harrowed, rolled and sown with a wheelbarrow drill and 

 covered with the Vaughn flexible harrow. The ground was again rolled, 

 leaving it very smooth. 



Plat No. 1 (one acre) was sown with four bushels of Orchard grass seed. 

 It came up in about two weeks and made a fine growth, covering the ground 

 June 9. This grass kept the start of the weeds which came up more or less 

 all over the piece. 



Plat No. 2 (one acre) was sown with 20 pounds Alfalfa seed. This came 

 up in one week from date of sowing and continued to grow, and June 9 

 covered the ground fairly well. The highest plants were four inches above 

 the ground, and the roots extended lower than this below the surface. A 

 frost on the night of June 1 injured the Alfalfa to quite an extent. 



From the appearance of this plat I would sow more than 25 pounds of seed 

 rather than less. 



Plat No. 3 (one acre) was sown with 3 bushels of Eed Top. This seed came 

 up in about three weeks. It seemed to take longer to germinate than either 

 the Orchard grass or the Alfalfa. It covered the ground June 9, having 

 made a very good start. 



Plat No. 4 (one acre) was sown with a mixture of 1 bushel Eed Top, 4 

 quarts Eed clover, 4 quarts White clover, 2 quarts Timothy, and 4 quarts 

 Alsike clover, this mixture making nearly 4 bushels in bulk. The clover 

 was up in about a week. The grasses were up about the same time as those 

 in the other plats. This amount of seed made a very thick mat of grass and 

 kept the weeds back very thoroughly. 



^ The Orchard grass was light in color and did well until the last of July, 

 when it was considerably affected by the dry weather. In low places and in 

 spots where thinly seeded it was not so badly affected. 



The Alfalfa was dark green, and until affected by the drought in July, 

 when it turned yellow, made a fair growth ; although some of it seemed dead, 

 the roots were not affected, and later in the season it revived and made a 

 fair growth. 



Eed Top was thick and grew well. la color it resembled the Blue grass. 

 It suffered from the drought ; but a little of it was headed July 23. 



The mixture of grasses was less affected by the dry weather than any of 

 the others. The Alsike and Eed clover were from four to six inches high 

 July 23. The Orchard grass larger in low places. The White clover small 

 but very thick, and the Eed Top was in blossom. 



The Alfalfa or Lucerne feeds mainly from the subsoil, and for this reason 

 many fail to obtain as good results with it as they look for. It thrives best 

 on old soil, that which has received deep, thorough tillage for some years. 

 Another year of trial will enable us to speak with more definiteness of the 

 value of these clovers and grasses. 



