TIMOTHY LEADS TO PASTURE 41 



the cornbelt region, timothy is more profitable the first 

 and second years after sowing than it ever is afterward. 

 Kentucky bluegrass runs into it wherever the soil is fairly 

 rich in lime. Timothy declines in vigor, owing) no doubt 

 usually to lack of feeding and to hard pasturing in the 

 fall after hay has been cut. Doubtless with good feed- 

 ing on suitable, moist, rich soil in cool climates timothy, 

 can be kept for six or even 10 years, but for most farm- 

 ers its profitable life will be found to be but two, three 

 or four years; then it will need plowing and the land 

 planted to some other crop allowing good clean cultiva- 

 tion, with enriching, after which the timothy may be re- 

 sown. 



Timothy as a Bridging Pasture. While not a good 

 grass for permanent pasture, except in mixture, timothy 

 is one of the most useful crops that can be sown with 

 other grasses where one wishes something on which ani- 

 mals may feed while other and slower grasses are becom- 

 ing established. Thus in making a bluegrass pasture, 

 timothy may well be sown with bluegrass and will afford 

 grazing for a year or two while the bluegrass is becom- 

 ing established. 



SUMMARY. 



Timothy is perhaps the easiest established of cultivated 

 grasses. It is the -standard hay grass. It is of rather 

 low nutritive value compared with alfalfa or even when 

 compared with other grasses, its protein content being 

 quite low. It has, however, considerably more pro- 

 tein in its composition when cut early. Probably the 

 greatest feeding value is obtained by cutting timothy when 



