MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES 



235 



TIMOTHY 



Timothy is the most important and the most extensively grown of 

 any of the meadow grasses in North America. It is the standard grass 

 for hay purposes and finds a ready sale in all of the hay markets. 



Soil and Climatic Adaptation. — Timothy is a northern grass and 

 seldom does well in North America south of latitude 36 degrees, excepting 

 in high elevations. Cool, moist weather during the early part of the 

 growing season is favorable to good yields of hay. It is best adapted to 

 loam and clay loam soils. It is not adapted to swampy soil conditions, 

 neither does it succeed on sandy or gravelly soils. It is not drought 



A Field of Good Grass (Timothy), College Farm, Pa. 

 Yield, five tons per acre field-cured hay. 



resistant, and does best on moist, well-drained soils. It calls for a fair 

 degree of soil fertility and does not do well on acid soils. 



Advantages of Timothy. — The importance of timothy lies chiefly in 

 its ability to produce good yields of hay that find a ready market at a 

 fair price. The plants seldom lodge and are easily cut and cured, and the 

 period during which it may be cut is longer than that for most grasses. 

 It seeds abundantly, and seed of a high degree of purity and of good 

 germination can be secured at a low cost. It fits well into the crop rota- 

 tions, and is adapted to seeding with small grains, such as wheat, oats, 

 rye and barley, either in the autumn or in the spring. 



Seed and Seeding. — The low price of timothy seed and its appearance 

 make it difficult of adulteration. No grass seed on the market so nearly 



