184 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



profitable if there is a good stand of grass and if there is 

 sufficient rainfall. There is no use in supplying fertilizers 

 for a four-ton crop when the climate or the stand of 

 grass limits the crop to one ton. The price of hay is also 

 an important factor. In the northeastern states, nitrate 

 of soda at the rate of 100 to 200 pounds per acre may 

 be profitably used for the production of timothy. In New 

 York, the use of this material usually seems to be profita- 

 ble if the untreated land will yield 

 a little over a ton of hay. It is ap- 

 plied as soon as the grass starts 

 growth in the spring. Many farmers 

 are now applying manure on the 

 meadows preceding corn rather than 

 on the corn crop. This seems to be 

 a good practice when it can be 

 spread thinly, as is done with a 

 manure spreader. The corn crop 

 does not seem to be much poorer 

 and the hay is greatly benefited. 

 Probably the bacterial activity that 

 is favored by the sod (page 120) and 

 manure (page 119) prepares food 

 for the corn crop. 

 171. Timothy (Phleum pratense). The most important 

 hay plant in America is timothy. The chief timothy region 

 is north of the city of Washington and east of the 100th 

 meridian. Timothy has a number of desirable characters 

 that make it popular. The seed is cheap. It grows well 

 and produces a good yield of good hay the year after it is 

 sown. It is easily killed by plowing. No other grass is so 



FIG. 91. Timothy plant 

 grown from a single seed 

 A bunch grass. 



