GRASSES IN MISSOURI 381 



likewise alfalfa. Broadly speaking, the hay grasses are the three 

 mentioned. The land is very valuable, and so far no permanent 

 pasture is laid down as a rule, but the meadows are mowed for hay 

 for one or two years then pastured for one or two years, cattle or 

 hogs being fed on them and then broken up and put in corn for 

 three or four years, then changed to oats for one year and again 

 sown to timothy and red clover. 2. The black prairie soil of 

 northwest Missouri and the best corn soil in the state. It is, 

 however, of a little too coarse texture to produce bluegrass to the 

 best advantage, although better adapted than is Region I, and is 

 more generally used than is Group I, otherwise the practices of 

 the two regions are identical. 3. Black limestone loam represents 

 the highest development of bluegrass pastures in the state. The 

 soil is capable of fully equaling the best bluegrass production 

 in Kentucky. Here the pastures are permanent with large shade 

 trees, the farmers breeding pure-bred stock to a large extent. The 

 meadow grasses are timothy and red clover. Alfalfa does well 

 on these soils and is coming to be more and more generally em- 

 ployed. 4. The same as 2, plus clay and finer and tighter, there- 

 fore better adapted to bluegrass than 2. Here the chief reliance is 

 bluegrass and white clover, while the hay grasses are with perhaps 

 less reliance upon alfalfa than 1, 2, and 3, and more reliance upon 

 cowpeas. 5. A level prairie region with a very compact soil of 

 close texture and is the timothy region of the state. The great bulk 

 of the timothy seed produced in the state is grown in this region. 

 Clovers are not so extensively used and cowpeas are more widely 

 relied upon. In this region timothy meadows are kept for 10 years 

 or more without being plowed, although the trend is away from this 

 practice. 6. A lighter soil of coarser texture with some lime and 

 not so well adapted to either bluegrass or timothy or the clovers 

 as the regions just mentioned. Here considerable redtop, orchard 

 grass and the larger fescues find much favor, both for hay and 

 pasture with considerable reliance on the cowpea as a forage plant. 

 7. A limestone region in which red clover reigns supreme. The soil 

 is of slightly too open texture for bluegrass to reach its best when 

 first cleared. Continued tramping, however, rectifies this difficulty 

 and ultimately this will also be a great bluegrass region. The chief 

 reliance for hay here is timothy and red clover, and cowpeas. 

 For pasture bluegrass and white clover in the older sections, and 

 orchard grass and the tall fescues on the newer land, with the 



