HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 159 
Mr. Bowre. You speak of the Johnson grass as a pest, do you, 
oe you can not get rid of it? Is it nota pretty good grass for 
eed 2 
Reg Sprtyman. We speak of it as a pest because we can not get rid 
of it; yes. 
Now, I am going to speak of the work we are doing with Johnson 
grass next. e think these are practical problems, and will pay 
interest to the practical farmers of the country. We are doing some 
similar work with red clover, and among the things we have run on to 
is this, that in the clover-sick country, where the clover does not 
get a stand, owing to difficulties of weather, we have found that by 
sowing timothy and clover together in the latter part of August or 
in the late summer or early fall you can get a poor stand much more 
quickly than by sowing in the usual way, and the next summer you 
get two big cuttings of hay. 
Mr. Henry. You are entirely right. In New England it is not safe 
after the middle of August, preferably the last week in July or-the 
first week in August. It has a much better stand and a surer crop 
than when sown in the spring. 
Mr. Sprutman. I know one farmer who gets three big cuttings of 
hay the next year, and two the year after that, but he isa very unusual 
farmer. 
Another thing we have recently discovered is a variety of clover 
from Russia that has no hair on the leaves of the stem. That is one 
drawback with clover. It is fuzzy. That fuzz collects the dust and 
that makes it hard to cure the hay. Now, we have discovered a variety 
that has no fuzz on it at all. It is as clean and sleek as an alfalfa 
lant. 
s Mr. Henry. Is it a red clover? 
Mr. Sprutman. Yes; a variety of red clover. We are experiment- 
ing with that and we want to put it into the hands of the farmers just 
as soon as we can. We are growing it ‘on a rather large scale in 
Wisconsin; we are developing it there, and are going to spread it 
over the country wherever conditions are adapted to it. 
Another important matter is that timothy and clover are sown 
almost universally all over the hay-producing sections of this country. 
Clover ripens two weeks earlier than timothy; so that that hay is never 
the best hay—you either cut it too green or too ripe. Weare now 
trying to get a kind of clover that will ripen simultaneously with the 
timothy. We have good prospects of success. But that is a tedious 
work and will require a good deal of application and time. 
Mr. Henry. What comment have you to make on red top? 
Mr. Sprntman. That is not as palatable a grass as timothy or orchard 
grass, but it a very excellent grass, and in New England it is popular. 
It is also sown in New York and Pennsylvania, and also in Southern 
States and in Illinois. The red top seed is grown in Illinois, in Clay 
County and in adjacent counties, and is a good grass. 
The Cuarrman. Rather a wet-soil grass? 
Mr. Henry. A fine pasture grass? 
Mr. Sprttman. Yes. One of the best lawn grasses, called the Ken- 
tucky blue grass, is strictly at home with red top. ; 
Mr. Burteson. I suppose you derive the clover from a species of 
seed selection ? 
Mr. Srinuman. Yes; we do. We find in the case of timothy a whole 
