54 KAUJMUK'S BOOK OF G HAWSES 



Perennial and bearing cold and drought well, it furnishes 

 grazing a large part of the year. It is specially valuable as a 

 winter and spring grass for the south. To secure the best win- 

 ter results, it should be allowed a good growth in early fall, so. 

 that the ends of the leaves being killed by frost afford "an ample 

 covering for the under parts which continue to grow all winter 

 and Afford a good bite whenever required by sheep, cattle, hogs 

 and horses. In prolonged summer drought it dries completely, 

 so that if fired, it would burn o/f clean. But this occurs in Ken- 

 tucky, where indeed it has seemed without fire to disappear ut- 

 terly ; yet when rain came, the bright green spears promptly re- 

 carpeted the earth. * 



With its underground stems and many roots it sustains the 

 heat and drought of the southern States as well as those of Ken- 

 tucky; where indeed it is subjected to^severer trials of this kind 

 than in the more southern States. In fact it bears the vicissi- 

 tudes of our climate about as well as Bermuda grass and is near- 

 ly as nutritious. 



Mr. Collier's proximate 



ANALYSIS OF PO'A PRATENSIS : 



\ l ', T '> . c ' . ; /" 



Oil, 1.82 Amylaceous cellulose, 22.53 



Wax, 1.04 Alkali extract, 17.20 



Sugars, 9.61 Albuminoids, 11.54 



Gum and dextrin, 3.14 Ash, 5.18 

 Cellulose, 27.94 



100.00 

 ANALYSIS OF ASH. 



Potassium, 6.96 Sulphuric acid, 4.76 



Potassium oxide, 33.81 Phosphoric acid, 9.89 



Sodium, Silicic acid, 30.25 



Sodium oxide, Chlorine, 6.30 



Calcium oxide, 4.81 



Magnesium oxide, 3.23 100.00 



Blue grass grows well on hill tops, slopes, or bottom lands if 

 not too wet and too poor. It may be sown any time from Sep- 

 tember till April, preferably perhaps in the latter half of Febru- 

 ary or early in March. The best catch I ever had was sown the 

 20th. of March, on unbroken land, from which trash, leaves etc. 

 had just been burned. The surface of the land should be clean- 

 ed of trash of all kinds, smooth, even; and if recently plowed 

 and harrowed, it should be rolled also. This last proceeding is 

 for compacting the surface in order to prevent the seed from 

 sinking too deep in the ground. Without harrowing or brush- 

 ing in, many of them get in too deep to come up, even when the 

 surface of the land has had the roller over it. The first rain af- 

 ter seeding will put them in deep enough, as the seeds are very 



