REDTOP AND ORCHARD-GRASS 153 
grasses. One form has large, erect stems, with broad, 
coarse leaves. This is the one generally grown for 
hay, and the seed ordinarily sold as redtop consists 
mostly of this type. Another form has slender, creep- 
ing stems, with much finer leaves, and is known as 
“creeping bent.’’ Every gradation between these two 
forms may be found. Some botanists regard creeping 
bent as a distinét species, but it is generally considered 
as only a variety of redtop. This creeping form is 
quite commonly used as a lawn grass along the north 
Atlantic seaboard. 
The various forms of redtop are all good pasture- 
grasses, particularly on moist soils. They make a 
good sod, and bear cropping and trampling well. 
Redtop seed is sold both in the chaff and as ‘‘re- 
cleaned’’ seed: ‘The latter is simply the ordinary seed 
from which most of the chaff has been removed. The 
ordinary seed weighs io to 12 Ibs. per bushel, the re- 
cleaned weighs 35 lbs. per bushel. 
The amount of redtop seed used in the usual grass 
mixture of New England varies greatly. Some farni- 
ers sow it very sparingly, using only one or two 
pounds per acre (of recleaned seed); others make it 
the principal ingredient of the mixture, using 12 to 18 
Ibs. If ordinary seed is sown, about four times these 
amounts should be used in order to get the same 
amount of seed. The recleaned seed is usually cheap- 
est in the long run. 
In recent years the development of the rice indus- 
try in Louisiana and Texas has seriously interfered 
with the rice-growers of the Atlantic coast region, and 
they are now casting about for grasses and forage 
