MEADOW FESCUE. 203 



tain lands in the South higher than those on which blue 

 grass is found. 



For temporary pastures meadow fescue should not 

 be looked upon as a reliance, since these would be 

 broken up before the grass had reached the limit of 

 capacity to produce. But few grasses, however, if in- 

 deed any, excel meadow fescue for permanent pasture, 

 where the conditions are at all favorable to its growth. 

 Its duration under some conditions is very great. One 

 instance is on record in Tennessee in which this grass 

 has furnished good grazing for 50 years. Whether it 

 would endure thus long in northern areas does not ap- 

 pear to have been well established. It is probable, how- 

 ever, that it will survive longer in southern latitudes 

 than in those north where the winters are stern. 



Harvesting for Hay. Meadow fescue comes into 

 flower a few days earlier than timothy. It should be 

 cut ordinarily about the blossoming stage, but not quite 

 so early for horses as for cattle and sheep. The method 

 of cutting and curing is about the same as that adopted 

 in cutting and curing timothy, that is, it is cut with 

 the mower and is cured in the winrow. (See p. 74.) It 

 makes a good quality of hay. The yield of hay ordinar- 

 ily runs from 1 to 2 tons per acre, but in some areas it 

 produces much larger yields. As high as 4 tons have 

 been cut per acre. Since it is seldom grown alone for 

 hay, its value for market purposes does not appear to be 

 well established in this country, but, since it weighs 

 reasonably well, it should prove at least a fair merchant- 

 able hay. When the seed can be obtained plentifully 

 at lower rates and in purer form, and when the value of 



