46 BULLETIN 141, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Hay and pasture grasses constitute the chief remaining crop grown 

 upon the Clyde clay. Usually the area devoted to grass growing in 

 the Central States is decidedly subordinate to that given to corn and 

 oats. In New York State grass constitutes the chief crop grown 

 upon the Clyde clay. This arises from the fact that little of the type 

 has been sufficiently drained to make it a suitable soil for the pro- 

 duction of intertilled crops. The same is partly true of the Saginaw 

 area, Michigan. In all areas timothy, seeded alone, comprises the 

 largest grass acreage. The Clyde clay is almost an ideal soil for 

 timothy production. It is moist, well supplied with organic matter, 

 and mildly calcareous. Unless the yields are decreased through poor 

 drainage the production frequently exceeds If tons per acre at a 

 single cutting. Total yields of 2^ tons per acre at two cuttings are 

 not infrequently obtained. In many instances the second crop is cut 

 and thrashed for the seed. Mixed timothy and clover also occupj 7 

 large areas on the type. Both the red and alsike clovers are seeded 

 with the timothy where the hay is grown for feeding rather than for 

 the city market. Clover is grown alone upon this soil, but to a 

 limited extent. The yields of mixed hay range from 1^ tons to 2-} 

 tons per acre. Clover yields as high as 2 tons with an average of 1^ 

 tons per acre. 



Wherever the Clyde clay has become well drained the Kentucky 

 bluegrass spreads naturally over the fields not kept in constant culti- 

 vation. It forms a thick mat along the roadsides and invades fields 

 which have been seeded to other grasses for any length of time. 

 Wherever it is permitted to remain it forms an excellent pasturage 

 and, if the land were not usually much more valuable for growing 

 the tilled crops or other grasses, it would constitute one of the best 

 sources of pasturage in the Central States. The use of such a field 

 for pasturing hogs is shown in Plate IV, figure 2. 



Where tile drainage has been completely installed and the land 

 fully drained to a depth of 3 feet or more, alfalfa succeeds very 

 well upon the Clyde clay. Drainage is a fundamental essential to 

 success with this crop, but otherwise the soil is in excellent condition 

 for alfalfa seeding. It is productive, well supplied with organic 

 matter, and so calcareous that liming is usually unnecessary. Even 

 the inoculation with the proper bacteria is sometimes naturally se- 

 cured through the rather general growth of sweet clover or Melilotus 

 throughout the area occupied by the better-drained portions of the 

 type. Upon well-drained fields of alfalfa south of Toledo, Ohio, 

 3| to 4 tons of hay per acre are obtained in three or four cut- 

 tings each year. Such a field is shown in Plate V, figure 1. The 

 stand of alfalfa usually lasts for four or five years. It is then ad- 

 visable to plow the land for corn, as Kentucky bluegrass will usually 

 invade the fields to such an extent that tillage for a year and 



