(15) 



"but they are feeble, and if spared by the frosts of winter are 

 so crippled they fall an easy prey to the scorching suns of 

 summer. For the same reason pasturing will effectually 

 -destroy a timothy meadow, if persisted in. The stock will 

 bite off all foliage, leaving the roots to perish, or if hogs are 

 allowed to run on it they quickly discover and destroy the 

 succulent bulbs. "When about half the blossoms turn brown, 

 and at least the upper part of the spike or head is still pur- 

 ple, a yellowish spot will make its appearance at or near the 

 first joint, and this is the true indication for the harvest to 

 begin, for this spot will soon extend, if allowed to remain, 

 to the spike, and the whole plant will be a stem of wood. 

 The appearance of this spot also tells of the maturity of the 

 bulbs, and they are not so liable to injury from cutting as 

 hefore. If this joint is left, the tubers will remain green 

 and fresh during the entire winter; but their destruction is 

 inevitable if it is taken away at any time during the year. 

 These remarks do not apply with equal force to timothy 

 ■when it has a fibrous root, but the two kinds are so inti- 

 mately mingled there is no practical difference. 



Timothy stands at the head of all grasses in its nutritive 

 qualities. A specimen taken from the field according to 

 the above directions, yielded on analysis, water 57.21, flesh- 

 forming principles 4.86, fa^-forming principles 1.50, heat- 

 producing principles 22.85, woody fibre 11.82, and mineral 

 matters 2.26, in one hundred parts. — {Way.) A compari- 

 son of its relative value as a food will be made further on. 

 But the above nutritious specimen will never be produced, 

 if the plant is allowed to stand too long. On the contrary, 

 as a food it would become woody and worthless, all its 

 «tarch, sugar, albuminoids, and other nutritive principles 

 having been deposited in the seeds, and the stalk is nothing 

 more than a woody support. 



Cattle fed on this kind, or on hay that has been allowed 

 to get wet and ferment, will quickly lose their flesh and the 

 hair become rough. 



