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REDTOP AND ORCHARD-GRASS 
HESE two grasses have nearly the same distri- 
bution in this country. They are both of 
secondary importance, compared with tim- 
othy. While more widely distributed than 
any other grass, they are really important in only a 
few localities, as will be seen in the following: 
REDTOP (4grostis alba) 
(Herd’s-grass of Pennsylvania and the South) 
Of the perennial farm grasses in the northern 
part of this country, timothy ranks first; Kentucky 
blue-grass is a fair second ; while redtop (Fig. 29) is 
a poor third. In only one or two localities does red- 
top rise to first rank. ‘These are in southeastern Illi- 
nois and adjacent parts of Kentucky, and in the New 
England States. In the first-mentioned region the soil 
is a heavy clay, inclined to be wet, to which class of 
soils redtop is particularly adapted. Nearly all the 
redtop seed of the country is grown in this locality. It 
rises to considerable importance in New England, and 
is again more or less prominent in certain sections of 
the arid West, where irrigation is practiced, and along 
the southern edge of the timothy region. Over the 
timothy region, except in New England and the above- 
mentioned localities in Illinois and Kentucky, it is gen- 
erally looked upon with disfavor. The most valuable 
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