THE SMALLER GRASSES— STRAW 171 



after seeding it forms a close, well-knit, smooth sod, almost as dense as 

 bluegrass turf. There is no better grass for marshy and damp lands, 

 and at the same time it will withstand considerable drought. It 

 endures on poor uplands and on soils too acid for most other grasses. 

 Tho not so well liked as bluegrass, red top gives good pasture and 

 yields a fine-stemmed hay, rated somewhat below timothy in value. 



Orchard grass. — Tho it does well in full sunlight, this grass thrives 

 better than most others in partial shade. It endures hot weather 

 better than timothy and is well suited to the southern border of the 

 timothy belt. As it starts early in the spring, endures drought well, 

 and continues growth late in the fall, it furnishes valuable pasturage, 

 tho stock prefer bluegrass. While late-cut orchard grass makes harsh, 

 wood}' hay, that cut in early bloom is equal to the best of the hay 

 grasses. Orchard grass grows in tufts, forming an uneven sod, and 

 hence should be sown with clovers or other grasses, both for hay and 

 pasture. Ripening two weeks before timothy, it fits in well with red 

 clover. 



Brome grass. — In that part of the great plains region stretching 

 from South Dakota to Saskatchewan, brome is the most important 

 cultivated grass. It furnishes good crops of hay, fully equal to 

 timothy in feeding value, for three or four years after seeding, by 

 v/hich time it usually becomes sod bound and should be renewed by 

 harrowing or shallow plowing. Brome is one of the most palatable of 

 pasture grasses and endures heavy grazing. Tho the most drought- 

 resistant of the cultivated grasses, brome is usually less productive 

 than the native prairie grasses in the drier parts of the dry-farming 

 belt. 



The millets. — The millets are rapid growing hot-weather annuals of 

 many races and varieties. Of these, the foxtail millets are the type 

 most grown for forage in the United States. In this group are com- 

 mon millet, the earliest and most drought-resistant ; the less drought- 

 resistant, shorter stemmed Hungarian millet, the seeds of which are 

 mostly purplish ; and German millet, late maturing and with nodding 

 heads, which yields more hay, but not of quite such good quality. 

 The foxtail millets are especially valuable as hay crops on dry-farms 

 in the northern plains region. In the more humid regions they are 

 grown chiefly as catch crops. Millet should be seeded thickly for hay 

 and should be cut as soon as the blossoms appear. Such hay is useful 

 for cattle and sheep feeding, tho usually less palatable and inferior in 

 feeding value to timothy hay or even bright, fine corn or sorghum 

 fodder. Since millet hay is sometimes injurious to horses, it should be 

 fed sparingly. 



Japanese harnyard millet, a close relative of the common barnyard 

 grass, has often been advertised as ' ' billion dollar grass. ' ' Tho yield- 



