30 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



Coast states. In the central states timothy thrives for a 

 few years, but tends steadily towards replacement with 

 other grasses. Timothy responds to rich, moist soil, well 

 filled with decaying vegetable matter. 



What to Sow. Perhaps no other grass has been found 

 that affiliates well with timothy, and any admixture will 

 lower its grade in the market. On poor soils deficient in 

 carbonate of lime, redtop thrives better than timothy and 

 is sometimes sown with it, though redtop is an inferior 

 grass. Clovers grow well with timothy and are an aid 

 to it. Common red clover suits it best under ordinary 

 conditions, though on moist land inclined to need lime 

 alsike clover is more vigorous, and on dry, rich soils al- 

 falfa and timothy thrive well together. Unfortunately 

 the market objects to a large proportion of clover in tim- 

 othy hay, though if it is nicely cured the hay is really 

 very much enriched by the mixture. Red clover disap- 

 pears after the second year quite completely and there is 

 no doubt that the yield of timothy is materially increased 

 by having had the clover as an associate. Timothy rap- 

 idly uses up the nitrogen of the soil, and this the red 

 clover accumulates. 



Alfalfa with Timothy. Where one grows timothy for 

 one's own use one can well afford to sow with it alfalfa, 

 since the alfalfa will greatly enrich the timothy as hay 

 and will also make it grow the more vigorously. To ac- 

 complish the mixture, however, one must sow the two 

 seeds together, either in August or in spring, or else es- 

 tablish the alfalfa first and later sow the timothy. We 

 may sow alfalfa alone in April or May or June, depend- 

 ing on situation and the season best adapted to alfalfa 



