YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES. 121 



from insects, with which it is infected, and which seem to be 

 on the increase. The proper time for mowing timothy is just 

 when the first dry spot appears above the first joint. If mowed 

 before, the plant is injured. If left to a later period, the starch 

 and sugar are converted into indigestible woody fibre, and the 

 nitrogenous compounds, on which its value chiefly depends, are 

 transferred from the leaves and culms to the seed, which mostly 

 drop out before they reach the margin. Timothy is not well 

 adapted to hot sands, gravels, and chalks, nor for hard, sterile 

 clays ; but thrives on peaty, damp soils, and especially on most 

 calcareous loams, where it exhibits its fullest perfection. 



Meadow Foxtails. There are five varieties of the genus 

 (Alopecurus), viz. : A. pratensis, A. agrostis, A. geniculatus, and 

 A. aristulatus. The A. pratensis may be distinguished from its 

 allied species by the equality of length in the glumes and palese, 

 and by a twisted awn twice the length of the blossom. It rarely 

 exceeds three feet in length, and does not usually yield over 

 one ton to the acre. It is very watery in its composition ; 100 

 pounds of the green grass gives only 19f pounds of dry hay, 

 while an equal quantity of timothy gives 42f pounds. If one 

 ton of green timothy be worth $5, the foxtail will be worth 

 $2 07, if Mr. Way's analysis can be relied on. It is found 

 abundantly in some of our best pasture ; is one of the earliest 

 to start in the spring, and the first to mature its seeds ; its after 

 math is exceedingly abundant, starting up immediately after 

 mowing, and if the weather be showery will, in a week or ten 

 days, give a fair bite to the cattle. It is not well adapted to 

 alternate husbandry as it requires three or four years to bring a 

 meadow to full perfection. It is very difficult to procure good 

 seeds, as many heads are entirely destroyed by the insects. It 

 is better adapted to pasture than to meadow, flourishes most 

 luxuriantly on rich, moist, strong soil, the production from a 

 clayey loam being three-fourths greater than from silicious soil. 



Setaria glauca Is good for nothing in meadows and pas 

 tures; it should be exterminated as soon as possible, which 

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