GRASSES OF IOWA. 



361 



with a contracted or oblong panicle and producing few or 

 many small branches in a whorl. Grass starts rather late in 

 the spring but affords very good pasture during the entire 

 summer, especially in wet soils. It yields from one to two tons 

 of hay to the acre which is of excellent quality. 



Prof. F. Lamson-Scribner* says: 



"Herd's grass or redtophas locg been known to our farmers, 

 and in its several forms is deemed valuable for permanent 

 meadows and pastures, where the laud is not too dry. On good 

 soil it yields well and makes excellent hay. Some of the forms 

 employed alone, make, under favorable circumstances, the 

 softest and finest turfs for lawns. " 



CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 



One sample of this grass was analyzed by the South Dakota 

 station (1). 



Water 



Ash 



Ether extract 



Crude fiber 



Crude protein 



Nitrogen free extract. 



Total 



100.00 



100.00 



Professor Bealf says: 



"Redtop in this country is often sown on marshes too wet 

 for some of the better grasses. It is not well adapted to alter- 

 nate husbandry, as it takes several years to become well 

 established. " 



Also, F. Lamson-Scribner| says: 



"It makes a very resistant and leafy turf, which well with- 

 stands the tramping of stock. It grows well, also, as far 

 south as Tennessee. Among the forms of low growth are two 

 varieties which are unsurpassed, either in fineness or richness 

 of color, for making lawns." 



♦BuU. Univ. Tennessee Agrl. Exp. Sta. 7: 1: 79. 

 (1) South Dakota Bull., No. 40: 83. 

 +Gra8ses of North America. 1 :145. 

 JBull. Div. Agros. U. S. Uept. Agrl. 3:13. 



