70 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



Rye as Soiling Crop. For soiling rye has its use, 

 especially in regions of poor soil and rigorous climate. 

 It is always a forage deficient in protein, and its chief 

 good is as a filler and a provider of succulence in rations. 



Beardless Spring Barley as Hay. Beardless spring 

 barley makes an exceedingly good nurse-crop for clover 

 or alfalfa. Its merits are that it does not usually lodge, 

 and being not very prolific does not too much shade 

 the young legumes. It is best cut for hay just before 

 the grain forms, since it thus affords its maximum 

 amount of feeding value, and, getting out of the way, 

 gives the alfalfa or clover opportunity to grow. 



Rescue Grass (Bromus unoiloides). This grass is al- 

 lied to the cheat grasses. It is hardy, makes pretty good 

 winter grazing in the South, and has been considerably 

 exploited. I do not see that it is any better than wheat 

 and usually seems inferior, though the seed should be 

 less expensive, and to some extent it will reseed itself. 

 Seedsmen oftentimes substitute cheat seed for rescue 

 and thus make good profit, as cheat is a weed seed 

 that is found in large amounts in wheat and separated 

 by millers. Spillman says that cheat is by no means 

 as good a grass as rescue grass. Unless it is desired that 

 the grass shall in a manner perpetuate itself by self- 

 sowing, I should choose wheat or oats rather than res- 

 cue grass for the South. This is the "Arctic grass" of 

 some seedsmen. 



THE MILLETS. 



The millets are of a very ancient and honorable fam- 

 ily of cultivated plants. Our ancestors found them 

 edible and began their cultivation perhaps as early as 



