GRASSES 



195 



seed is the storehouse in plants like corn and wheat, and as 

 the enlarged root is the storehouse in a plant like the beet. If 

 the meadows and pastures are managed in such manner as to 

 insure a good supply of food stored in the bulbs and rootstocks 

 in the fall, the plants will winter in good condition and make 

 an early and vigorous start in the spring. 



244. Mixtures for hay and pasture. Over a greater part of 

 the hay-producing region of the United States a mixture of 

 timothy and red clover 

 furnishes an excellent 

 combination. Indeed, 

 as a hay grass, timothy 

 is of more importance 

 in the United States 

 than all other grasses 

 combined. Fully nine 

 tenths of the hay that 

 reaches the market is 

 made from timothy. 

 In New England, red- 

 top is more abundantly 

 used and more highly 



At left is a bulb with the last year's stalk attached ; 

 in center, a last year's stalk in middle, with new shoots 

 on each side ; at right, a vigorously growing plant 

 with three new shoots. (Photograph from Missouri 

 Experiment Station) 



FIG. 92. How the timothy stand thickens 



valued than elsewhere 



in the United States, 



but even there timothy 



is the dominant hay 



grass. The first year that clover and timothy are sown together 



the hay is a mixture of the two. After the second year the 



stand is nearly pure timothy. 



When timothy is to be grown alone, from 8 to 12 pounds of 

 seed are sown to the acre. When timothy and clover are mixed, 

 from 4 to 7 pounds of timothy and from 4 to 6 pounds of clover 

 per acre are conservative amounts to sow. Where redtop is used, 

 the following mixtures are suggested : ( i ) for moist, heavy soils, 

 timothy, 8 pounds ; redtop, 5 pounds ; red clover, 4 pounds ; and 

 alsike clover, 2 pounds ; (2) for light soils, timothy, 8 pounds ; 



