92 THE HANDBOOK FOE PKACTICAL FARMERS 



seed per acre or a corresponding amount of seed in the chaff 

 will be sufficient for a good stand when seeded alone. When 

 sown mth other grasses four or five pounds are commonly used 

 for hay mixtures, while two or three pounds per acre will be 

 found sufficient for pasture mixtures, as it spreads readily. 

 Timothy, redtop and alsike clover make a good mixture. 



Value and uses. — It is the most important hay crop in por- 

 tions of the New England States. In the rest of the timothy 

 grooving states of the Northeast it is second only to blue grass 

 as a pasture grass. The hay is somewhat tough and is not 

 popular on the market. For home use, however, it should be 

 included in hay mixtures, especially if the soil is somewhat 

 sour or wet, for it will increase the yield. The best results are 

 obtained if cut early. After the blossoming period a rapid 

 deterioration in quality takes place. In yield it is exceeded 

 by timothy only. It is the only tame grass that will do well 

 on very wet soils, and it is useful as a soil binder on steep 

 slopes. 



The bent grasses. — Redtop is one of the bent grasses, of 

 which there are many varieties. Few have any agricultural 

 importance, for redtop will outyield them all. If the purpose, 

 however, is to establish a good lawn, velvet bent, carpet bent 

 and Rhode Island bent are valuable. They will succeed on soils 

 too wet or too sour for blue grass. Rhode Island bent was 

 formerly quite commonly grown in New York and in the New 

 England States as a pasture grass, but redtop is gradually tak- 

 ing its place. This is due to the difficulty of obtaining the seed 

 of the Rhode Island bent on the market, while the seed of red- 

 top is plentiful. 



Orchard grass. — Orchard is a long-lived perennial grass, 

 growing three or four feet tall, forming dense tufts that may 

 become a foot or more in diameter. Its leaf blades are long 

 and flat or slightly keeled and its pannacle is so characteristic 

 that it cannot be mistaken for that of any other grass. 



Soil and climatic adaptations. — Orchard grass will thrive on 

 a wide range of soils ; doing best, however, under good drainage 

 conditions, on rich loam soils, and well on heavy clays. It will 

 not succeed on poor sandy soils or on muck, but will grow on 

 soils too wet or too sour for timothy and Avill also withstand 

 drought better. It is grown farther south than timothy because 

 it will stand more heat ; on the other hand it is not so common 

 in the North because it is more easily injured by severe winter 

 weather. One of its important characteristics is its ability to 



