7O THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



acre is variously estimated from 6 to 30 pounds perhaps 12 

 to 18 pounds of re-cleaned seed being most commonly recom- 

 mended when sown alone, and 6 to 10 pounds when sown with 

 timothy or timothy and red clover. Time and manner of 

 seeding are similar to that of timothy, except greater care is 

 required not to cover seed too deeply. 



68. Adaptation. Redtop will probably thrive under a wider 

 range of soil and climate than any other cultivated grass. 

 Being less esteemed either for hay or pasture, it is cultivated 

 only where other grasses are less successful. As a hay crop, 

 redtop is next to timothy in importance among the grasses in 

 this country. It often, perhaps usually, forms a large part o'f 

 the herbage of permanent meadows. It is adapted to low, 

 moist lands, and is usually grown on the poorer lands of this 

 sort. It is useful for improving impoverished clay soils on 

 account of the organic matter furnished by its numerous roots, 

 its mass of underground and above ground stems, and its thick, 

 tough sod. It may, therefore, be wisely added to the grass 

 mixture in a rotation on such soils. The Rhode Island Station 

 has shown that it is able to live in very acid soils where timothy, 

 red clover or Kentucky blue grass will not thrive, which may 

 account for its common occurrence in the New England states. 

 Where lands are too poor, too moist, or too acid to grow 

 timothy, redtop may be tried. By the skilful use of this grass 

 in a rotation, lands may be improved and made to grow more 

 desirable grasses as well as to give greater yields of other crops. 



69. Value. Redtop produces a fairly good quantity of hay, it 

 being recognized as being heavy for its bulk. Its feeding value 

 as hay is not considered equal to timothy and buyers are not 

 favorably disposed toward it. " In some places where it grows 

 readily farmers take the precaution to keep it out of their 

 timothy meadows, because even a little of it reduces the market 

 value of the hay. The Rhode Island Station found when grown 

 under the same conditions that redtop was richer in nitrogen 



