174 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



171. Yield of hay. The yields of redtop hay on wet 

 lands are usually better than those of any other hay grass. 

 It is, however, much better used in mixture, especially 

 with timothy and alsike. If grown alone the return is as 

 a rule less than- that of timothy. American experiment 

 stations have reported yields in pounds to the acre as 

 follows: Ohio, 5634; Kansas, 3399; Illinois, 3600; 

 Virginia (Arlington Farm), 3200; Michigan (Upper 

 Peninsula), 3493; Ontario (Guelph), 5580; North Caro- 

 lina, 2940. 



Vianne in France records hay yields of 6290 pounds 

 to the acre ; Sinclair in England of 7600 pounds from the 

 first cutting and 2640 pounds from the second ; Nielsen 

 and Lindhard in Denmark secured as the average of 7 plot 



trials 3000 pounds the first 

 year, 2980 pounds the sec- 

 ond year, 2200 pounds the 

 third year. 



172. Seed-production. 

 Commercial redtop seed 

 is grown mainly in south- 

 ern Illinois. The seed was 

 formerly harvested by 

 cutting the crop with a 

 mowing machine, curing 

 thoroughly and then 

 thrashing. In recent years 

 rotary strippers, such as 

 are used for Kentucky 

 blue-grass, have been em- 

 ployed. After the seed is thus stripped, the crop is cut for 

 hay and sometimes is thrashed to secure the seed left by 

 the strippers. 



FIG. 15. Seeds of redtop repre- 

 senting the "fancy" grade of the 

 trade, a, different views of seeds hav- 

 ing the white, papery, inner chaff ; 

 b, two views of a grain, or kernel, with 

 the inner chaff removed ; c, the same, 

 nearly natural size. 



