VALUE OF ORCHARD GRASS FOR PASTURE. 117 



the wealthy owners of the best studs of horses in the country will use 

 no other hay than what is sometimes called the " English mixture," 

 believing it to be in all respects better. I have long ago discovered 

 that it is more nutritious, pound for pound, to feed cattle and sheep, 

 than Timothy hay. 



I have been told by Mr. Henry Stewart, who has been quoted else- 

 where in this book, that, when changing the feed of his cows from 

 hay made from Orchard Grass, Clover and other mixed grasses to 

 Timothy hay of good quality, the tri-weekly churning of butter fell 

 off from 25 Ibs. to 17 Ibs., and no increase of grain food that could be 

 safely given would restore the loss. Also that the same difference 

 has occurred when changing from Orchard Grass to Timothy in 

 pasture or soiling. I believe, in this case, Mr. Stewart used Orchard 

 Grass alone to a large extent; and at the rate of four bushels of seed 

 per acre, the cost of the seeding is reduced to about the same as that 

 of Timothy and Clover. This example is one of the sowing of 

 Orchard Grass alone, or nearly so ; but the mixture of other grasses, 

 as before described, will always give better results, because of the 

 larger yield produced. 



Timothy and Clover are so general in all the meadows, that one 

 would suppose Timothy was the only grass that would succeed in our 

 climate. In the East, Timothy is commonly called " Herd's Grass," a 

 name which in Pennsylvania is given to Bed Top. This formerly led 

 to much confusion; but at present the name " Herd's Grass " is 

 generally dropped. Timothy is especially unsuited to the too com- 

 mon method of treating grass lands. There are farmers who still, 

 after taking a crop of hay, pasture the land, after grass has made a 

 second growth. Timothy forms a bulbous swelling at the base of its 

 stems, from which next year's growth will start, and is greatly injured 

 by cattle trampling it and eating off the leaves that should pro- 

 tect the bulb during the winter, so that Timothy is a poor pasture 

 grass. In this respect Orchard Grass is much more useful than 

 Timothy. We never knew a farmer to fairly try Orchard Grass 

 who was not so pleased with it that he did not continue its use. Yet, 

 take the country through, it has made its way but slowly. It is pre- 

 ferable to Timothy to combine with Clover for hay, as the two are in 

 perfection that is, in blossom at the same time, while as pasture 

 grass it is vastly superior. Orchard Grass is, in fact, a true pasture grass, 

 while Timothy is not. It at once recovers after it is closely cropped, 

 and the earliness of its growth in spring is greatly in its favor. The 

 chief, in fact, the only objection, that has been made to Orchard Grass, 

 is its tendency to form tussocks or clumps, a trouble which may be 

 overcome by thick seeding. Three bushels of clean seed to the acre, 



