10 THE CULTURE AND USES OF BEOME-GRASS. 



the last of June or early in July, and the second in September. The 

 securing of two crops depends almost entirely on the amount of 

 moisture and very little on the latitude, since in eastern Manitoba two 

 are frequently obtained. Except under irrigation, only one cutting can 

 usually be secured in the western part of the Dakotas or at the same 

 longitude in Canada. The first cutting yields more and is of much the 

 better quality. The second cutting, although nearly as tall as the 

 first when cut, consists mostly of leaves and makes very light hay. 



The hay does not cure as easily as timothy and darkens rapidly if 

 allowed to get wet. Although this makes it unsalable, its feeding 

 value is not seriously impaired. Even when properly cured, how- 

 ever, the hay is of darker color than timothy. 



Stacking is done with the ordinary hay-making machinery, and 

 when put up with reasonable care the stacks shed water well and will 

 keep for two years in excellent condition, with but a small quantity of 

 damaged hay on the outside. (See PL II, fig. 2.) 



As previously stated, in the third season of growth the max:imum 

 yield is usually secured. After two crops are obtained the yield 

 rapidly diminishes. The average yield for the time the meadoAv is 

 profitable, Avhich is three or four years, may be conservativelj esti- 

 mated at IJ tons per acre. This is the estimated average yield for 

 the entire region. On good soil and under favorable conditions yields 

 as high as 3 to 4 tons are not uncommon, especially when two cut- 

 tings a vear can be secured. 



Brome-grass hay is very little knoAvn on the city market and the 

 demand for it is entirely local. It commands a good price in sec- 

 tions where it is groAvn, and ordinarily sells for $2 to $3 a ton more 

 than native wild hay and for about the same price as timothy. 



SEED. 



There is a considerable quantity of brome-grass seed produced 

 throughout the entire region under discussion, although it is grown 

 to the largest extent in the eastern part of the Dakotas, in Man'toba, 

 and in eastern Saskatchewan. The groAvihg of seed in large quanti- 

 ties seems to have been more of an industry a few years ago than it is 

 at the present time. It should not be inferi-ed from tliis that the 

 total quantity produced is not as great as heretofore, but thai farm- 

 ers are growing it less for wholesale market and more for local use, 

 making its production more generally distributed. Whether there is 

 actuaUy less produced it is difficult to state; there is certainly less 

 imported than formerly. There are many farmers who have in the 

 past grown 100 acres, and even much more, for seed who at the pres- 

 ent time are raising little more than enough for their own use. 



Ill— V 



