168 Feeds and Feeding. 



225. Red top, Agrostis vulgaris. — This grass, widely disseminated 

 and of several species, is especially valuable on damp lowlands, where 

 it forms a close, well-knit, smooth turf, ranking next to blue-grass 

 m this particular. It furnishes excellent pasture and yields a pal- 

 atable hay of fine stems and numerous leaves. Red top is often indig- 

 enous in northern meadows and should be more generally grown. 

 Tracy of the Mississippi Station^ found no better grass than red 

 top for marshy lands and seepy hillsides. 



226. Orchard grass, Dactylis glomerata. — This grass starts early 

 in the spring and ripens about two weeks in advance of timothy. 

 For this reason it may well be grown with red clover. It succeeds 

 well in partial shade, but forms an irregular, uneven sod, and should 

 always be sown with other grasses and with clovers. The hay from 

 orchard grass is inclined to be harsh, woody, and lacking in aroma, 

 and is not particularly relished by stock. These defects can be 

 partially overcome by early harvesting. 



227. Mixed grasses. — No matter how valuable, no single variety 

 of grass should be grown in meadows or pastures, but always a mix- 

 ture of several kinds in combination with the clovers. At the North 

 a combination of red top, timothy, and orchard grass, together with 

 alsike and medium red clover, will yield a larger tonnage of aro- 

 matic, palatable hay than is possible from any single variety. Un- 

 less indigenous, white clover should be sown in pastures with all the 

 above. There are other varieties of grass that thrive in certain dis- 

 tricts, and the stockman should experiment freely with the more 

 promising ones in order that he may discover those best suited to 

 his particular farm. In this connection it must be remembered that 

 the presence or absence of sufficient plant food — nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid, potash, and lime — determines and regulates, in a large degree, 

 the species or varieties of grass and clover found in any given field. 



228. Brome grass, Bromus inermis. — For the eastern edge of the 

 northern plains region, stretching from South Dakota to Saskatche- 

 wan, brome is the most important perennial hay and pasture grass, 

 nourishing there as do timothy and blue-grass further east. Ladd 

 and Shepperd of the North Dakota Station- found brome the best 

 grass for permanent pasture, yielding twice as much protein and no 

 more fiber than timothy. During a 5-year test, brome grass yielded 

 an average of 2 tons of hay at the Manitoba and 1.25 tons at the 

 Saskatchewan Station.^' (431, 749) 



1 Bui. 20. ^ Bui. 47. ^ Canada Expt. inarms, Epts. 1902-6. 



