18 CIECULAR 17 8, TJ. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE 



notable ability to withstand spells of hot, dry weather. Chemical 

 analyses of the herbage indicate a high nutritive value. Care must 

 be exercised with its use that there may be no danger of its spreading 

 into agricultural land, where it might soon prove a pest. For this 

 reason it may best be used at the higher elevations where seed will 

 not mature. The chief disadvantage of quack grass under the more 

 favorable growing conditions is its overdevelopment of rootstocks. 

 The plant tends to become root bound about the third or fourth year 

 after sowing, and plowing, harroAving, or disking is required to 

 correct this condition. However, these conditions are not encountered 

 frequently on the range. Quack grass is best sown in mixture with 

 other grasses, such as orchard grass, meadow fescue, and perennial 

 ryegrass. 



CULTIVATED AND INTRODUCED BUNCH GRASSES 



The cultivated grasses dependent mainly on seed for reproduction 

 which have given fair results under certain western range conditions 

 include timothy, orchard grass, Italian ryegrass, tall (or meadow) 

 fescue, and sheep fescue. 



TIMOTHY 



Timothy {Phleum pratense). by far the most important hay grass 

 cultivated in North America and the one so common in farm meadows 

 and pastures of the northeastern quarter of the United States, has 

 given better all-round results than any other species when tried out 

 on western range sites where the soil is moist and the growing season 

 is of sufficient length for seed production. Also, the seed is cheap 

 as compared with that of most other species of cultivated forage 

 plants. 



Timothy becomes established by the second year after seeding and 

 because of its tall stature, large leaves, and luxuriant growth produces 

 a great abundance of nutritious herbage which is highly palatable 

 to all classes of livestock. It holds up very well if properly grazed 

 but does not endure overgrazing so well as most of the species with 

 creeping rootstocks. Timothy will grow under a wide diversity of 

 site conditions but thrives best in well-drained but moist loams or 

 clays, at 3,000 to 5,000 feet elevation. (PL 1, C.) It is used exten- 

 sively on moist areas in the Pacific Northwest. 



On good range soils timothy has held up as long as 12 years or 

 more, but ordinarily the stand tends to die out in about 6 or 7 years. 

 In localities where fertile seed is produced the seed is often carried 

 by livestock, wind, and other agencies to adjoining areas. Though 

 near timber line where the growing season is too short to allow viable 

 seed to mature, the species does not revegetate when killed out, the 

 low cost of the seed justifies its use on sites where it may become 

 established readily. It is of considerable value for use with a slow- 

 starting perennial such as Kentucky bluegrass. 



Eight to fifteen pounds of seed per acre is required to produce a 

 good stand. It seldom, if ever, pays to sow less than 8 pounds per 

 acre on the range, since seed can usually be obtained for 5 to 15 cents 

 a pound and a good stand becomes established promptly. 



Information relative to timothy as a cultivated hay and pasture 

 grass is given elsewhere (^, ^4)- 



