PRACTICAL OPINIONS. 69 



long without being cropped, it becomes coarse and 

 harsh. Colonel Powell (a late eminent farmer of Penn- 

 sylvania), after growing it ten years, declares that it 

 produces more pasturage than any other grass he has 

 seen in America. On being fed very close, it has pro- 

 duced good pasture after remaining five days at rest. 

 It is suited to all arable soils. Two bushels of seed are 

 requisite for an acre when sown alone, or half this 

 quantity when sown with clover. The seed is very 

 light, weighing not more than twelve or fourteen 

 pounds to the bushel. It should be cut early for hay." 



Mr. Sanders, a well-known practical farmer and cattle 

 breeder, of Kentucky, says of it : " My observation and 

 experience have induced me to rely mainly on orchard 

 grass and red clover ; indeed, I now sow no other sort 

 of grass-seed. These grasses, mixed, make the best hay 

 of all the grasses for this climate (Kentucky). It is 

 nutritious, and well adapted as food for stock. Orchard 

 grass is ready for grazing in the spring ten or twelve 

 days sooner than any other that affords a full bite. 

 When grazed down and the stock turned off, it will be 

 ready for re-grazing in less than half the time required 

 for Kentucky blue grass. It stands a severe drought 

 better than any other grass, keeping green and growing 

 when other sorts are dried up. In summer it will 

 grow more in a day than blue grass will in a week. 

 Orchard grass is naturally disposed to form and grow 

 in tussocks. The best preventive is a good preparation 

 of the ground, and a suiEciency of seed uniformly sown. 

 The late Judge Peters, of Pennsylvania, — who was at 

 the head of agricultural improvement in that state for 

 many years, — preferred it to all other grasses." 



Orchard grass is less exhausting to the soil than rye 

 grass or Timothy. It will endure considerable shade. 

 In a porous subsoil its fibrous roots extend to a great 



