220 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
that the hay which ranks highest on the Denver mar- 
kets, and known locally as South Park Hay, is neither 
a grass nor a legume, but a sedge (Juncus balticus). 
It grows on over-irrigated meadows in South Park, 
Colorado, and in similar situations in other parts of 
that State and Wyoming. Horses prefer it to any 
other hay, and feeders consider it the acme of fine hay 
for driving-horses. It is stri€tly a wild hay, cut from 
volunteer growth on meadows that are irrigated too 
heavily to permit tame grasses to grow. 
The amount of low-grade hay that reaches the mar- 
kets is surprising to those not. familiar with market 
conditions. Leaving meadows down till they become 
weed-infested accounts largely for this cheap hay. 
.. The importance of renewing meadows before they be- 
come weedy has already been dwelt on at some length. 
An incident on one of the large hay markets, recently 
witnessed by the writer, enforces this point. A com- 
mission merchant had that morning received two car- 
loads of hay, one of first-class quality, and one badly 
mixed with weeds and volunteer grasses. The car of 
good hay sold immediately at a good price. ‘The other 
car was passed by a dozen buyers, and finally sold for 
just two-thirds the price of the other. There were 
some fifty cars of low-grade hay on the same market 
and no one wanted them, but there wasa string of buy- 
ers hunting for hay of good quality. 
MEASURING HAY IN THE STACK 
Lack of facilities for weighing hay on many farms 
renders it necessary frequently to resort to measure- 
ments of the stack as the only means of getting the 
