162 AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 



of flowering, while the weight is the same. The ripe crop exceeds the 

 flowering in value as 14 to 5. It is usually sown with wheat in tbe 

 fall, or with oats or barley in spring the latter being preferable and 

 red clover is generally mixed with it. If sown alone, half a bushel of 

 seed, or if with clover 12 quarts of grass, and one pound of clover is 

 the proper quantity. Many persons sow less than this, but there is no 

 economy is stinting grass seed. There should be enough to form a thick 

 sod the first season. In heavy clays even more seed may be requisite. 

 Timothy may be cut in the morning, and hauled into sheds or barns the 

 same afternoon, using a bucket full of salt to each ton ; but if stacked, 

 it must be drier. The faults of this grass are : 1, the coarse stem and 

 head. 2. The deficiency of leaf. 3. The small quantity of the after 

 crop ; and 4, the dying out of the plant in winter in certain classes of 

 soils. It is better adapted for horses and neat cattle than for sheep, and 

 compares badly with the fine, leafy hay of the English meadows. It 

 is well adapted for mixing wUh other grasses. (6) and (c) Both belong 

 to wet or marshy lands, and will not prosper in entirely dry soils ; they 

 can, therefore, scarcely be called cultivated grasses, though they are often 

 sown in such situations. They are natives of the United States. They 

 have creeping roots or stolons, and are very difficult to eradicate. Tho 

 two greatly resemble each other, but the latter has white instead of red 

 heads or flowers. In England, they are not held in much estimation. 

 &quot;With us they are placed as hay, by many persons, on a level with Timo 

 thy, and for sheep they probably surpass it, the stalks being fine, and 

 the leaf abundant. They afford good pasture, and grow rapidly after 

 being cut or grazed. The latter species (c,) is called Fowl Meadow grass 

 in many paits of New York, a name which has led to much confusion. 

 If sown in maishes, they readily exterminate the coarser grasses and 

 weeds, and form a productive meadow. About one bushel of seed to 

 the acre should be used, or two bushels if sown on clean plowed land. 

 About 1}^ tons to the acre of dry hay is the usual product, the grass 

 diminishing greatly in weight after cutting, (c?,) Till lately, this grass 

 has only been sown in Massachusetts, where it is also called Duck-grass, 

 and Swamp-wire-grass, but it is now getting into general favor. It is 

 mentioned by the Rev. J. Eliot, of Connecticut, as early as 1751, from 

 whom we learn that it was supposed to have been brought into a poor 

 piece of meadow in Dedham, Mass., by ducks and other wild water 

 fowls and therefore called by such an odd name. There can be little 

 doubt, however, that it is indigenous to Michigan where it is frequently 

 met with in swamps. It grows tall and thick, and makes a soft and 

 pliable hay. One good quality is that it does not spoil by standing 



