188 Feed^ and Feeding. 



Tracy, of the llisslssippi Stuliou, ' found no belter grass for 

 marshy lauds and seepy hillsides. 



271. Mixed permanent grasses. — Nature rarely covers any 

 large area with a single species of vegetation, and it is better to 

 humor her by having several varieties of grass and clover in the 

 same meadow or pasture than growing a single one, no matter how 

 valuable. For stock feeding at the Xorth, a mixture of redtop, 

 timothy and orchard grass with one or two kinds of clover will 

 give a larger yield of aromatic, palatable hay than is possible 

 with a single variety. There are several other varieties of grasses 

 which will thrive in special locations. The stockman should 

 experiment freely with the more promising varieties, that he may 

 learn by direct experiment which combinations are best suited to 

 his condition. 



272. Hungarian grass, millet. — The millets, which are annual 

 grasses, consist of many races and varieties mixed in hopeless 

 confusion. German millet and Hungarian grass are the millets 

 commonly grown in the Northern states. Sown in early summer, 

 they thrive remarkably in hot and even dry weather, reaching 

 the harvest period in August or September. In order to produce 

 hay of fine quality, a liberal allowance of seed should be sown. 

 AVith thin seeding millet stems are coarse and reed-like, forming 

 a hay of low quality. All forms of millet grass designed for 

 hay should be cut just as the plant is coming into blossom, to 

 avoid the formation of hard seeds which are indigestible by 

 horses and cattle. Hay from thickly- seeded millet, if cut early, 

 is useful for cattle and sheep feeding. If given to horses, it 

 should be fed very sparingly and under close supervision. (198) 



For millet-hay injurious to horses, see Article 482. 



At the Massachusetts Station, ^ Brooks, experimenting with 

 Japanese millet, grew crops in which the plants reached a height 

 of six feet, yielding from twelve to eighteen tons of green forage 

 per acre. Millet forage was much relished by dairy cows, prov- 

 ing superior to flint corn fodder. 



273. Grasses at the South. — In the past the Southern planter 

 has despised grasses because they seriously interfered with the 



» Bui. 2U. * Kept 1895. 



