20 



the blue grass region of Kentucky, says: "Owing to its capacity to resist 

 drought and in consequence of its rapid growth it will yield more pastur- 

 age than the best blue grass sod." 



Its superiority to timothy lies in the great value of its aftermath. It 

 will improve under depasturing when a timothy meadow subjected to the 

 same treatment would be destroyed. It also makes an excellent winter 

 pasture. Prof. Phares, of Mississippi, an expert writer on grasses, says 

 he prefers orchard grass to any other grass. 



Mr. Howard in his manual on grasses thinks it stands in importance, 

 for the climate of Georgia, second only to meadow-oat grass for hay and 

 winter pastures. Where hay is the object he recommends that meadow- 

 oat grass and orchard grass be sown with red clover and white, as each 

 of the four blossoms at the same time. The cultivation of orchard grass 

 and meadow-oat grass he thinks cannot be too strongly recommended 

 for the south. 



Hon. N. B. Dudley, of Logan county, Kentucky, a most successful 

 stock-grower, has this to say of orchard grass: 



"Orchard grass with a good stand on medium to good land will fur- 

 nish more grazing than any other of the grasses in common use. It 

 starts on its spring growth sooner, is less affected by a summer's drought 

 and grows later in the fall than any other grass. It is the best yard grass 

 for farmers who love large yards and many shade trees. But to get the 

 most benefit from it, it should be grazed hard enough to keep the blades 

 short and tender. If they are permitted to grow long they become tough 

 and rough to the mouths of stock. 



It is not a sod grass like blue, herd's and Bermuda grass. It is more 

 like timothy, growing its tillers from the parent plant, each tiller having a 

 bulbous quality at its base and it. should never be grazed hard enough for 

 these bulbs to be eaten by stock for that would soon destroy the stools 

 from which they grow. 



Orchard grass does very little towards reseeding or thickening itself 

 on the ground. The stools seem to love to have a little neutral territory 

 around themselves. Good farmers usually sow blue and herd's grass to 

 fill these spaces and some sow timothy also because it gives a mowing the 

 next summer. Stock should be kept off of orchard and blue grass for 

 two winters after seeding. 



It is the nature of orchard grass to grow blade in the fall and seed 

 stock in the spring. It should therefore have a good holiday in the fall. 

 Orchard grass is not one of the best hay grasses. The seed stalk will get 

 hard whether it is cut early or late but a very fine hay can be had by 

 sowing with it the common or medium red clover. They are ready for 

 the mower at the same time. I have seen its blades four feet long and the 

 stand of grass seriously injured because it was neither mowed nor grazed. 

 I love orchard grass because it will grow well on land where blue grass 

 would be too dwarfish for profit." 



SAVING SEED When seed is the object the grass should be cut 

 with a self-binding reaper and tied up in bundles -as wheat or oats. The 

 bundles are put up in shocks without being capped. They should remain 

 in this condition until dry enough to thresh, which will be in three or four 



