10 FORAGE PLANTS AND THETR CULTURE 



important being primarily winter crops; namely, vetch, 

 bur clover, white clover and redtop. 



Likewise, in the Northern States and Canada, many 

 important European forages have found but little place, 

 but four of them have on account of their marked adap- 

 tation for the region attained relatively a much higher 

 importance than they have in Europe. These four are 

 timothy, red clover, Kentucky blue-grass and redtop. 

 The utilization of these over much of the eastern United 

 States to the practical exclusion of many of the other 

 perennial grasses and legumes much used in Europe is 

 striking. Over the area in question at least 50 per cent 

 of the hay crop is made up of timothy and red clover 

 alone, and probably 70 per cent of the improved pastures 

 of Kentucky blue-grass and redtop. 



Some European plants, like sainfoin, are not grown in 

 America because there are no chalky soils; others, like 

 the lupines and serradella, seem poorly adapted to with- 

 stand summer heat ; and many of the perennial grasses 

 do not hold their own in pastures and meadows in com- 

 petition with the more aggressive, better adapted species. 



5. Perennial hay plants in Europe and America com- 

 pared. In Europe eleven perennial grasses namely, 

 perennial rye-grass, Italian rye-grass, orchard-grass, 

 meadow foxtail, meadow fescue, tall oat-grass, yellow 

 oat-grass, velvet-grass, timothy, redtop and sweet vernal 

 grass, and five perennial legumes namely, red, white 

 and alsike clovers, alfalfa and sainfoin, may be con- 

 sidered as of prime importance. 



In North America, if we except alfalfa, these European 

 grasses are well adapted only to the area north of latitude 

 36, after excluding much of the semi-arid region. South 

 of this latitude few of them are worth cultivating. 



