278 Practical Farming 



mown as soon as the blossom heads appear, for if left 

 later the hay deteriorates rapidly in quality. Since the 

 season for the hay harvest with this grass comes so early 

 it is apt to be a time when rains are frequent, and a farmer 

 with a large area in orchard grass will often have a great 

 deal of difficulty in saving the crop in the best condition. 



Its habit of growing in tussocks can be remedied by 

 mixing it with other grasses, and for hay making we 

 would never sow orchard grass alone. For pasture pur- 

 poses we have always mixed it with red top and blue 

 grass, using ten pounds of the orchard grass, five pounds 

 of the red top, and ten pounds of the Kentucky blue grass 

 per acre, since heavy seeding is the most economical way 

 to get a dense sod. On strong clay soil, and especially on 

 a Hmestone soil, the pasture will finally be mainly of the 

 blue grass, and as the blue grass is slower in germination 

 and spreading, the orchard grass shelters it and favors its 

 increase, while the quick germination of the red top gives 

 some pasturage before the others are ready when the red 

 top on high land gradually passes out. 



Being an early grass, the orchard grass associates better 

 with red clover than timothy does, since both are ready 

 for the mower at the same time. Orchard grass will 

 thrive, too, on land of a clayey nature that is too thin for 

 timothy, and from its strong rooting nature, it makes a 

 greater mass of vegetable matter to turn under than 

 timothy does. Its chief value, we think, is in the forma- 

 tion of permanent pastures. 



Red Top {Agrostis vulgaris) seems par- 

 ticularly adapted to low land in the Southern 

 States, and while it grows well on uplands, it is not so 



