204 FIELD CROP PRODUCTION 



is corrected by the use of lime. It grows best on the lime- 

 stone soils of the corn belt states and in the blue-grass 

 region of Kentucky, which is underlain with limestone. 



190. Uses of blue-grass. As a hay grass, it cannot 

 compare favorably with timothy, either in yield or palata- 

 bility. The short stems and few culm leaves hold down 

 the yield so that it is seldom that more than one-half ton of 

 hay is secured per acre. The hay is dry and unpalatable, 

 and animals do not relish it. Kentucky blue-grass is 

 preeminently a pasture and lawn grass. As a pasture 

 grass in the corn belt states, it has no rival. It furnishes a 

 palatable and nutritious pasture, starts early in the spring, 

 and grows late into the fall. It makes a dense, firm sod 

 that stands pasturing well and becomes more dense and 

 productive with age. There are, however, two serious 

 objections to blue-grass as a pasture grass. It does not 

 furnish pasture during the dry, hot part of the summer, 

 and it requires several years to become well established. 

 Its desirable qualities, however, so far outweigh its 

 defects, that there is no danger of its losing favor. As a 

 lawn grass in the blue-grass section it has no rival. It 

 makes a beautiful, dense turf that improves with age and 

 when supplied with water during the summer, retains its 

 beautiful green color from early spring until late fall. 



In certain sections of the country, the seed crop is im- 

 portant. Almost all of the seed used in the United States 

 is harvested within a radius of 40 miles of Lexington, 

 Kentucky. The seed is harvested either by hand or horse- 

 drawn machines. The harvester most commonly used 

 is a machine run by horses that combs or strips the spikelets 

 from the panicle and collects them in a bag. The machines 

 are wide and collect the seed from a strip 15 to 25 feet wide 

 at one time. The stripping begins when the panicle turns 



