216 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



rosea), when once seeded in the Gulf section, volunteers from year to 

 year, coming after early crops and producing good late summer and 

 fall grazing and good hay. ST 



325. Wild and marsh grasses. Along certain sections of the Atlantic 

 coast are extensive salt marshes, the best of which are cut for hay at low 

 tide, yielding 0.5 to 1 ton per acre. Lindsey 38 of the Massachusetts 

 Station found such hay from 10 to 18 per ct. less valuable than average 

 mixed hay from the cultivated grasses for dairy cows. (624) In all 

 humid regions of the country are large fresh water marshes, some of 

 which are covered with the more nutritious true grasses, while in others 

 the rushes and sedges predominate. Such marsh hay as blue joint, 

 Calamagrostis Canadensis, cut before maturity, nearly equals timothy 

 in value. 



The prairies of the Great Plains and the grazing ranges of the "West 

 support numerous native grasses that furnish excellent pasturage and 

 hay equal to timothy when the growth is rank enough to be cut. (495, 

 624, 761, 861) The sedges and rushes of the mountain states are richer 

 in nutrients than those of the eastern states. 39 



326. Mixed grasses. No mat'ter how valuable, no single variety of 

 grass should be grown in permanent meadows or pastures, but always a 

 mixture of several kinds in combination with the clovers. In the North 

 a combination of red top, timothy, and orchard grass, together with alsike 

 and medium red clover, will yield a larger tonnage of aromatic, palat- 

 able hay than is possible from any single variety. The variety and 

 proportion of grasses and clovers to be included in such a mixture will 

 depend on climate and soil, and can not be discussed in this work. In 

 case of doubt as to the mixture to sow, the stockman should consult the 

 experiment station of his state, which understands the local conditions, 

 and should also observe the growth of the different varieties on his own 

 and adjacent farms. It must be remembered that the presence or absence 

 of sufficient plant food nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, and lime 

 determines and regulates not only the yield of forage, but also, in large 

 degree, the particular species or varieties of grasses and legumes which 

 do or may grow in any given field. 



327. The abuse of pasturage. Stockmen rely too blindly upon pastures 

 for the maintenance of their cattle during half the year. But a few 

 centuries ago the inhabitants of Great Britain trusted to the growth of 

 natural herbage for the support of their stock not only in summer but 

 thruout the entire year. If their animals, foraging for themselves as 

 best they could, survived the winter, all was well; if they died from 

 starvation, it was an "act of God." "We have abandoned the crude 

 practices of our ancestors, and now carefully store in barns an abundance 

 of feed for flocks and herds during winter's rigor. We are amazed that 

 our ancestors were so improvident as to gather no winter feed for their 

 cattle. By turning cattle to pasture in spring and letting them forage 



S7 Tracy, U. S. D. A. Farmers' Bui. 726. ^Mass. Bui. 50. ""Wye. Bui. 78. 



