TIMOTHY. 45 
Timothy is essentially a plant of temperate climates and is 
affected more by conditions of moisture than by temperature. It is 
very resistant to cold and bears a heavy cover of snow of long duration. 
Although the root system is rather shallow, it stands drought fairly 
well; the yields, however, are light under too dry conditions. 
Varieties: Timothy includes innumerable types, markedly dif- 
ferent from each other and of widely different agricultural value. 
In places where wild Timothy, or Timothy escaped from cultivation, 
has established itself, hundreds of types can be found side by side 
under exactly the same conditions. Giant plants, extremely leafy 
and consequently of great economic value, may be found cheek by 
jowl with small, dwarf types with but few leaves and spikes only 
half an inch long. Open tufts with ascending or almost decumbent 
stems may be seen in company with dense and bunchy tufts. Pale 
green, bluish green and bluish red plants may be found growing 
side by side. Early types, with the basal leaves brown and dead, 
may occur alongside of late maturing plants with an abundance of 
green leaves. 
Habits of growth: Timothy is rather slow-growing and as a 
rule medium to late in maturing. It is in flower early in July in 
the southwest peninsula of the province of Ontario and from the 
middle to the end of July in Manitoba and northeastern Quebec. 
The seed is ripe about a month after flowering. If sown with cereals 
in the spring, it gives a satisfactory hay crop the following year. 
Agricultural value: Timothy is used in Canada almost to the 
exclusion of other grasses, largely because clean seed of strong vitality 
is generally available at a low price. The expense per acre of seeding 
is less than with any other grass. 
If fed alone, it is of low nutritive value for growing animals or 
for milk production, because it is deficient in flesh-forming constit- 
uents; it is therefore not a profitable fodder by itself for those pur- 
poses. A liberal mixture of clover improves it. It is favoured for 
work horses that have heavy grain rations as well, and, on account 
of its digestibility, it is the standard hay for livery horses required 
to work immediately after feeding. 
Except on rich, moist lands, it does not by itself develop into 
a thick stand of plants, and for uplands it is better sown with other 
grasses or with Red Clover. When a fodder crop is required for only 
two years in a short rotation, it may be sown alone or with Alsike 
