76 



THE GRASSES OF TENNESSEE. 



however, this name is only applied to Red-top, or Agrostis 

 vulgaris. 



Mr. Timothy Hanson carried it from New York to Caro- 

 lina, and from him it is known as timothy grass. 



There is much dispute as to its parent- 

 age, some claiming it as indigenous to 

 the United States, while many others, 

 among them Dr. Gray, give it an Euro- 

 pean origin. It is of little consequence 

 where it sprang from, it stands confes- 

 sedly at the head of all meadow grasses, 

 not only in the amount of its yield, but 

 in its superiority as a nutritious food for 

 stock. It is eaten with more avidity 

 than any other perennial grass, although 

 it has a very coarse, rough stem, and less 

 fodder than many others. 



Its leaves are abundant near the 

 ground, but those on the stalk are com- 

 paratively few. Like most other mea- 

 dow grasses it attains its greatest value 

 as a food before the seeds are ripe. The 

 latter are very abundant and highly nu- 

 tritious. From ten to thirty bushels are 

 made on good land. 



It ripens late, and consequently favors the* farmer Very 

 much, as he is able to save his wheat before cutting and 

 curing his hay. It was a common custom at one time to 

 sow it with clover, as it added to the valua of the hay, and 

 from the strength of its tall stems, it prevented the clover 

 from lodging, but the fact of ripening so much later than 

 clover, causing a great loss from shrinkage, has done 

 away with this practice, especially as orchard grass is so 

 much superior in that respect. Timothy is not suitable for 

 pasturing, having scarcely any aftermath. Besides, the 



