120 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



spring, enabling the farmer to pasture his stock a month before 

 the clover fields are ready. I am aware of the fact that farms 

 may be reduced in fertility while kept in grass, when pastured 

 close in summer and little or no manure applied to them ; and I 

 have seen examples of this among the factory dairies, where 

 the cows are wintered on hay alone and no rotation followed. 



Varieties. Botanists have classified about four thousand 

 species of grass, and there is no soil but some of them are 

 adapted to. When we name those of value to the farmer, how- 

 ever, we reduce the list to a small number of varieties, and for 

 much the larger part of the United States four will very nearly 

 cover the list. These are timothy, blue-grass, orchard-grass, and 

 redtop. Through a wide scope of territory with which I am 

 familiar if we except clover and the millets these are the 

 only grasses ever sown. There are other varieties which are 

 valuable for certain localities or special purposes, among which 

 may be named the following: Meadow, fox-tail, fowl meadow, 

 rough stalked meadow, perennial rye grass, English bent, 

 meadow fescue, and sweet-scented vernal. 



TIMOTHY. Of the varieties named, all things considered, this is 

 the most valuable. It forms a large proportion of all the hay 

 sold in our markets, and is the standard of value for this purpose. 

 It contains a large percentage of nutritive matter. It thrives 

 best on loamy soils, or a rich clay, and is not well suited to 

 light or sandy lands. On moist soils its roots are fibrous, and 

 on dry, loamy ones bulbous. On rich lands, well suited to it, 

 this grass makes a rapid growth, and will sometimes yield from 

 three to four tons of cured hay per acre. It is not well suited 

 for pasture, as it is soon killed out by close grazing, and in 

 a dry fall will make very little, if any, aftermath. When sown 

 for pasture, therefore, it should always be in connection with 

 other grasses. 



BLUE-GRASS. This is known in many localities as "June 

 grass," and it varies much in size and appearance on different 

 soils. It flourishes best on limestone lands, and is universally 

 esteemed for pasture. It starts early, and forms a turf which 

 can be tramped with little injury when the land is in a condition 



