TALL OAT GRASS. 39 



quickness of growth and its earliness and lateness. 

 I have sown the Oat grass on wheat in the fall, made 

 a good crop of wheat, and late in the fall have mown 

 a fair crop of hay from the same land. Orchard 

 grass always takes two years to make a full crop, 

 while Oat grass sown in the fall on good land will 

 make a crop of hay the next summer. It has also 

 the advantage over orchard grass in seeding. It 

 may be sown either in the spring- or fall, while or- 

 chard grass in this climate must always be sown in 



the spring." 



I think the fall is the best time to sow the Oat ^rass 



but it can be sown either in the spring or fall, with 



almost a certainty of getting a set, as it very- rarely 



fails. Notwithstanding these two advantages over 



the orchard grass, it is not as valuable a grass, it 



never forms as thick and compact a sod as orchard 



grass. It is more liable to injury from drought. It 



must never be lett one day after it blooms, if you 



want first class hay, and a rain will injure the looks 



of Oat grass three times as much as it will injure 



orchard grass or timothy. If, however, it is cut and 



handled right, it makes beautiful hay. If cut early 



and the summer is not an excessively dry one it will 



head twice in the same summer. I consider the Oat 



grass a more valuable grass than timothy, as it 



is not nearly as exhaustive to the soil and if properly 



handled will make as good hay and twice as much 



of it 



In reply to enquiries Mr. T. B. Baker, Thorndale, 



Chester Co., Pa., writes me, March, 1875: ''In the 



spring of 1863, on two acres of good ground I sowed 



four bushels of Oat grass seed and mixed with usual 



quantity of barley and both drilled with the ordinary 



