BLUE-GRASSES 165 



tion as horse feed, and commands nearly as good a price 

 as timothy. It is said, however, to have a tendency to 

 produce colic if fed in large quantities. 



There is no particular difficulty in harvesting the seed 

 of Canada blue-grass, strippers not being required as in 

 the case of Kentucky blue-grass. The grass is cut when 

 the heads appear golden, and handled much like hay, 

 but it should be put into small shocks promptly, as other- 

 wise much seed may be lost by shattering. The seed is 

 thrashed in an ordinary grain separator, but special screens 

 are necessary. Canada blue-grass is ripe when wheat is 

 harvested and some seed is secured when the wheat is 

 thrashed by using a special screen to separate it from the 

 chaff and trash. The average yield of seed an acre is 

 about 200 pounds and the maximum about 500 pounds. 



Canada blue-grass is seldom sown pure, but when thus 

 planted about 15 pounds of seed per acre is required. On 

 poor rocky or clay soils Canada blue-grass will probably 

 give as great a return in pasturage as any single grass, 

 and its planting under such conditions is desirable. 



156. Adaptations. Canada blue-grass is adapted to 

 quite the same range of climatic conditions as Kentucky 

 blue-grass, but is more resistant to summer heat and to 

 drought. It is most abundant in eastern Canada and the 

 northeastern United States, but it occurs south as far as 

 South Carolina and central Alabama, and west to the 

 Pacific Coast. 



Unlike Kentucky blue-grass, it is most abundant in 

 poor soils, whether gravels, thin soil over rock or clay. 

 This is probably not so much preference as inability to 

 cope with other grasses on good soils. It is often abundant 

 on the sides of cuts where the subsoil is exposed, while on 

 the good surface soil other grasses occur. 



