MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



447 



Pacific Northwest. In the latter section it is very 

 frequently found in meadows and pastures. Al- 

 though practically a biennial, it is very early, and 

 the seed falls readily when mature, so that it 

 reseeds itself freely. It is usually grown with 

 clover in western Washington, and gives good 

 yields of hay or silage. This grass is occasionally 

 sown in the South, in which section it behaves as a 

 winter annual. Most of the seed of this grass 

 obtainable on our markets is the refuse of the 

 European crop, and is very unreliable. If good seed 

 could be had, fifteen or twenty pounds per acre 

 would give a good stand. Of ordinary market seed, 

 twice as much usually gives a poor stand. 



Perennial rye-grass (Lolium perenne), Fig. 561, 

 does not differ essentially in its culture from 

 Italian rye-grass. It grows best on stiff, wet soils, 

 doing very well in marshy situations, where it will 

 persist for several years. 



Sheep's fescue [Festuca ovina). Pig. 555. This 

 grass is not suited for hay, as it makes a too light 

 growth, but it has value for pasture in the cooler 

 and drier parts of the country. It does well on 

 sandy soils. It may be seeded at the rate of three 

 bushels per acre. 



Red fescue (Festuca rtibra), Fig. 556, is occasion- 

 ally cultivated for lawns or in pasture mixtures, 

 and is adapted to shady places. It grows on dry 

 sandy soils and sterile uplands, making a fine, close 

 sod. When seeded alone it is used at the rate of 

 two and one-half bushels per acre. In grass 

 mixtures it is used in small quantities. The seed 

 weighs fourteen pounds to the bushel. 



Rhode Island bent-grass (Agrostis eanina), Fig. 

 539, is similar in habit of growth and adaptations 

 to red-top, and much of what has been said regard- 

 ing that grass applies to this. It is especially valu- 

 able for lawns. Most of the seed is grown in Rhode 

 Island and Connecticut. 



Canada blue-grass (Poa eompressa). Fig. 547. 

 This grass has value for pasture in the North, par- 

 ticularly in the northeastern states, but is not a 

 heavy yielder. It succeeds best on clay soils and 

 is better adapted to sterile knolls and barren fields 

 than any other cultivated grass. It also does well 

 on sandy soils and withstands drought. It should 

 be sown in mixtures with other grasses when used 

 for hay or pasture. The seed is a common adulter- 

 ant of Kentucky blue-grass seed. [See pages 143, 

 144.] The plants can be distinguished by the flat 

 stem of the Canada blue-grass ; and the latter has 

 a bluer color and does not grow so tall. 



Weeds in timothy and clover meadows. 



When short rotations are practiced, the meadow 

 being left down only one or two years, there is 

 seldom any trouble from weeds. When the grass is 

 left down for longer periods certain weeds become 

 very abundant. In New England, quack-grass (Ag- 

 ropyron repens), Pigs. 159, 564, white daisy (Chry- 

 santhemum Leucanthemum), buttercup (Ranunculus 

 bulbosus), and orange hawkweed (Hieracium auran- 

 tiacum), Pigs. 156, 157, are the most troublesome, 

 quack-grass being worse than the other three com- 

 bined. In the middle states, red-top (Agrostis alba), 



Fig. 538, creeps into the meadows and is considered 

 a weed. Another weed known as white-weed (Erig- 

 eron Philadelphieus) is very prevalent in old mea- 

 dows. Quack-grass is beginning to appear in that 

 section and ultimately will probably be as preva- 

 lent as it is in New England. On the Pacific coast 

 west of the Cascade mountains, velvet-grass (Hol- 

 cus lanatus), Pig. 541', is the most prevalent weed 

 in meadow lands. It may be exterminated by cut- 

 ting for hay before seed is formed, and disking the 

 land repeatedly during the dry summer. This will 

 exterminate the velvet-grass by the latter part of 

 August, when any crop desired may be planted. 



Velvet-grass is used locally in parts of north- 

 western United States for forage. It yields about a 

 half ton of very light hay per acre, that is nutri- 

 tious but not palatable. The seed matures early 

 and shatters badly, and in addition is easily wind- 

 borne, so that it is readily scattered. 



Quack-grass is a widely distributed and trouble- 

 some weed in Europe and in southern Canada 

 and the United States. Its extensively creeping 

 rhizomes enable it to spread rapidly. It has some 

 value as a forage, particularly in permanent mea- 

 dows or pastures. It is both nutritious and pala- 

 table. A permanent sod must be gone over with a 

 disk-harrow occasionally to loosen the sod. It is 

 most useful as a soil-binder because of its persistent 

 rootstocks. Quack-grass may be eradicated (accord- 

 ing to Beal) by plowing late in fall, or very early in 

 spring, regardless of weather conditions, and then 

 using a shovel-toothed cultivator every three days 

 till the middle of June. All green leaves must be 

 persistently kept down. The harrow must cut off the 

 stems below the surface of the ground to be effec- 

 tive. It is not worth while to plow deep or to rake 

 out the rootstocks. The plant can be eradicated 

 faster by thorough work in the spring growing 

 season than later in dry weather. A cultivated 

 crop should first be used on the land, and all of the 

 grass that comes up persistently chopped out with 

 a hoe. The only cure is entirely to rid the soil of 

 the roots and seeds. 



II. The Cotton-belt 



Cowpeas. (Fig. 371.) The most imiportant hay 

 crop in the cot-ton-belt is cowpeas. When sown for 

 hay they are usually sown alone after a crop of 

 small grain. The yield is seldom less than a ton 

 per acre and sometimes as much as three tons, or 

 even more. Two tons, however, may be considered 

 a good yield. The hay is most excellent, especially 

 when the seed-pods are numerous and well filled. 

 Cowpeas are somewhat difficult to cure for hay. A 

 method more or less generally used is to bunch the 

 hay on poles set in the ground and extending to a 

 height of five or six feet. Two cross-pieces about 

 four feet long are nailed to the poles about six 

 inches from the ground. The hay is then piled on 

 until it tops the stake. In this way cowpea hay 

 may be cured in any kind of weather. Cowpea hay 

 may be readily cured by the use of hay caps made 

 of No. 10 ducking cut forty inches square, attach- 

 ing a small weight to each corner. 



