REDTOP AND ORCHARD-GRASS 



'T* HESE two grasses liave nearly the samedistri- 

 _i^ bution in this country. They are both of 

 ^^jH 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 (Agrostis alba) 

 {Herd's-grois 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 sedtions of 

 the arid West, where irrigation is pradtdced, 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 



146 



