ORCHARD GRASS. 141 



sometimes added per acre especially when growing 

 meadow. When this is done the amount of orchard 

 grass seed is correspondingly reduced. In the south 

 orchard grass and red top are frequently sown together 

 for pasture. When thus sown, 14 pounds of orchard 

 grass and Y pounds of red top would probably suffice. 

 In some instances timothy is added, but rather with the 

 object of covering the ground more perfectly and thus 

 increasing the pasture than of making hay. When 

 sown in permanent pastures the amount of seed to sow 

 will depend, upon the character of the pasture but will 

 vary all the way from a few pounds up to a bushel ac- 

 cording to the conditions. 



Much care should be exercised in purchasing orchard 

 grass seed lest it be adulterated with the seeds of one 

 or the other of the rye grasses. The author has been 

 told I by a very competent seedsman who has been 

 long prominent in the seed business, that not less than 

 four-fifths of the orchard grass seed of commerce is 

 much adulterated with the seeds of the afore-mentioned 

 grasses. These are cheaper and their detection is not 

 easy because of their similarity. 



Pasturing. — Since orchard grass comes up early in 

 the spring, the pasturing may begin correspondingly 

 early. Since also the leaves become a little coarse and 

 less tender with advancing age, and since it soon reaches 

 that stage where seed stems are thrown up, it is well to 

 pasture this grass with reasonable promptness and close- 

 ness in the early part of the season. When the season 

 advances and becomes more dry as it advances, as is 

 very frequently the case, the growth is less vigorous, but 



