bares 
TURKESTAN ALFALFA AND TIMOTHY. 21 
interruption from showers. Hence no pains are taken to top off the 
stack in order to shed rain until the stack is finished. 
TURKESTAN ALFALFA. 
Turkestan alfalfa, a variety recently introduced from Russian Tur- 
kestan by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has been tried in 
many parts of the Northwest, but over most of this region it appears 
to have no superiority over the kind already grown. Experiments 
seem to show, however, that it is somewhat more resistant to cold 
than the common variety; hence it is likely to be better adapted to the 
colder portions of the area, such as Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. 
Trmotnuy (Phleum pratense). 
This standard grass is extensively grown in many parts of the North- 
west, particularly where the climate is too moist and cool for alfalfa, 
such as the mountain districts and the Pacific coast plain west of the 
Coast Range. Itis the most commonly cultivated grass in the Rocky 
Mountain region, thriving in the higher altitudes where alfalfa is not 
successful. Except in favored locations, the fields must be irrigated. 
Timothy will not usually succeed in the hot, dry valleys of California 
and the southern portion of the Great Basin region, even when irrigated. 
In the irrigated regions of central Washington, timothy is an important 
crop, being grown chiefly above 1,200 feet altitude. The Ellensburg 
district of the Yakima Valley is famous for the excellent quality and 
large quantity of timothy grown for shipment. Onaccount of the dry- 
ness of the air the hay retains its fresh green color, while that grown 
in the very moist regions around Puget Sound and along the coast to the 
southward is usually darker colored. For this reason there is a strong 
demand for timothy grown in the irrigated districts around Ellens- 
burg, Wash., and elsewhere in northeastern Washington and in north- 
ern Idaho, for export. As stated in another chapter, this timothy is 
baled in large quantities for the Alaskan and Philippine markets by 
the process of double compression. Where grown for home consump- 
tion, timothy is often mixed with red clover. The timothy may be 
sown in the fall and the clover in the spring, with oats; or the oats 
may be sown in the spring and the other two mixed and sown broad- 
cast later. Sometimes the clover and timothy are sown together by 
means of combination drills. These machines have a separate feed 
box for the clover, which may drop the seed in the same holes with 
the timothy or sow it broadcast in front of the drill. On moister land 
and certain kinds of gravelly soil, alsike replaces the red clover in 
combination with timothy. 
Timothy, either alone or in combination with clover, is frequently 
used for pasture. The method of establishing pasture employed by 
Mr. Wheeler, who owns a ranch near Reno, Nev., illustrates the pos- 
sibilities in this direction, where water is available. Upon ordinary 
