PERENNIAL FORAGE GRASSES 57 



64. Adaptation. Timothy is indigenous throughout the tem- 

 perate regions, except in Australia. As a cultivated grass, it is 

 especially adapted to the North Atlantic and North Central 

 states east of the Missouri River. Nowhere else in the world is 

 timothy so well and favorably known. It is pre-eminently the 

 hay plant of the grass family in the United States. No other 

 plant of the grass family compares with it in extent of produc- 

 tion for hay. It is almost exclusively the hay of commerce in 

 the eastern half of the United States. Redtop, clover, and 

 alfalfa are sold to some extent, but the amount is small com- 

 pared with timothy. 



Timothy is better adapted to clay than to sandy soils, to moist 

 than to dry climates. It is at its best on moist and fertile 

 soils. On soil of light sandy character that had been cropped 

 for three years in potatoes, the Minnesota Station obtained, 

 as an average for three years, .74 ton of timothy hay; on low 

 soil well supplied with moisture the average for two years was 

 1.76 tons; while on new land, low, and five years from breaking, 

 the yield at the first cutting was 2.17 tons. 1 



It is perfectly hardy in the most northern portions of the 

 United States and throughout Canada, and has been found 

 satisfactory in meadows and in pastures in Alaska. The Rhode 

 Island Station reports that timothy does not thrive on very acid 

 soils until lime, wood ashes, or else very large and continuous 

 applications of stable manure are made. 2 



55. Rotations. Timothy enters into nearly all rotations in the 

 North Atlantic and North Central states and usually occurs for 

 two or more years. The most common rotation consists of 

 maize, oats, and wheat each one year, followed by timothy and 

 clover for two or .more years, the clover disappearing after 

 one or more years. At the North Dakota Station four crops 



1 Minnesota Sta. Bui. No. 81 (1903), p. 197. 



2 Rhode Island Sta. Bui. No. 99 (1904), p. 101. 



