90 THE HANDBOOK FOR PRACTICAL FARMERS 



Time to cut for hay. — When the bloom begins to fall or soon 

 after is regarded by most farmers as the best time to cut for 

 hay. If left till the "dough'* stage there Avill be some increase 

 in weight, but some loss in digestibility. While the later cuttings 

 are easier to cure, there is also some loss in palatabilitj^ This 

 is shown by cattle; when fed hay alone they will choose the 

 earlier cut hay. However, when they receive other feed with 

 the hay, they show no preference, indicating that the difference 

 in palatability must be slight. 



Yields. — "While the average yield in the United States is only 

 one and twenty-two one hundredths tons per acre, on good fields 

 it is not far short of two tons, and on rich well-fertilized fields 

 in the Northwest the maximum yield may reach four and one- 

 half tons per acre. 



Pasturing timothy. — Continuous and close pasturing may 

 destroy timothy. Each stalk of timothy has a bulb at its base 

 that is easily injured by the trampling of farm animals or by 

 close grazing. In any case a decreased yield of hay may be 

 expected after pasturing timothy closely. 



It is, however, a good practice to include timothy in pasture 

 mixtures, for on account of its quick growth it will furnish a 

 large amount of palatable grazing when conditions for its growth 

 are favorable, and by the time it has disappeared the slower- 

 gromng plants, such as blue grass and white clover, will have 

 taken its place. 



Timothy and clover mixtures. — It is a good practice to sow 

 clover with the timothy. Timothy, like other true grasses, takes 

 plant food from the soil and adds nothing except the organic 

 matter in its roots and stubble. Clover increases the fertility 

 of the soil by adding nitrogen taken from the air by the bacteria 

 that live in the tubercles found on the roots. It also adds more 

 organic matter to the soil than timotlty, and is of greater feed- 

 ing value, being much richer in protein. If a good stand of 

 clover is secured the yield of hay the first year will be more 

 than Avith timothy alone. The second year the yield is mostly 

 timothy, due to the fact that clover is a biennial and timothy a 

 perennial plant. 



In the winter wheat region, timothy is usually sown in the 

 fall with the wheat, and the clover is added in the spring. 'V\nien 

 early fall planting ^\ithout a nurse crop is practiced the clover 

 is planted with the timothy. 



Both the medium red clover and the mammoth red clover are 

 grown with timothy. Medium red clover matures earlier than 



