242 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



or hulls that enclose the seed proper. Blue grass seed is frequently of low 

 vitality, due to faulty methods of harvesting and curing. It is always well 

 to test the seed before seeding as a guide to the amount of seed desirable 

 to use. Blue grass is very slow in becoming thoroughly established, and 

 good pastures can seldom be secured in less than two years from time of 

 seeding, and in some cases more time is required. It is generally advisable 

 to seed with a mixture of grasses and clovers, some of which will give prompt 

 pasture. Timothy, orchard grass, and red and alsike clover are, therefore, 

 frequently used. These ultimately give way to the blue grass. Virgin 

 grass land and meadow land are frequently converted into blue grass 

 pastures by seeding blue grass, which gradually spreads and takes posses- 

 sion. When used for lawn purposes, the rate of seeding should be three to 

 four bushels per acre. As little as eight to ten pounds per acre may be 

 used when seeded with other grasses and when plenty of time is allowed 

 for becoming well established. Ordinarily, twenty to twenty-five pounds 

 of blue grass should be used when it is the chief grass for the pasture. 



It is difficult to distinguish between seed of Kentucky blue grass and 

 Canada blue grass. The latter is sometimes used to adulterate the former, 

 since it generally is less costly. 



Pasture Maintenance. — Blue grass, because of its numerous under- 

 ground root stocks, tends to form a sod-bound turf. This condition may be 

 obviated by seeding blue grass pastures with red or alsike clover every 

 three or four years. This can be done by using a disk drill early in the 

 spring. The use of the disk will also help to overcome sod-binding. The 

 presence of the clover will enhance the pasture for the time being, and 

 especially during the dry period when the blue grass will remain dormant. 

 The clover roots tend to loosen up the ground and supply nitrogen to the 

 blue grass. White clover is advantageous when seeded with blue grass. 

 It re-seeds itself and becomes permanent so long as soil conditions are 

 favorable. Under favorable conditions and with proper treatment, blue 

 grass pastures improve with age, at least for several years. There are 

 many instances of such pastures having been undisturbed for thirty 

 or forty years. 



REDTOP 



Redtop is a native grass of North America, and grows naturally in cold, 

 wet soils. It is a perennial provided with long, creeping underground root 

 stems, and spreads both by means of these and seeds. It forms a contin- 

 uous and fairly even turf, and is, therefore, well adapted for pasture pur- 

 poses. It has a wider range of adaptation, both from the soil and climatic 

 standpoint, than any other cultivated grass. It is resistant to cold and 

 withstands summer heat much better than timothy. It does not show much 

 preference for type of soil, but does best on loams and clay loams. It is 

 exceedingly tolerant of soil acidity. It is also fairly drought resistant and 

 succeeds better than most grasses on poor, sandy soils. 



