2 LEAFLET 171, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



the southern part of the timothy belt, provided they are seeded 

 sufficiently early to become established before cold weather. 



When seeded with timothy, red clover or mammoth clover should 

 be seeded at the rate of 4 to 6 pounds per acre ; alsike clover, 2 to 3 

 pounds; and alfalfa, 6 to 8 pounds. When all three legumes are sown 

 in mixture with timothy, the following rates are recommended: 

 Red clover, 2 to 4 pounds per acre ; alsike clover, 2 pounds ; and alfalfa, 

 4 to 6 pounds. 



Timothy in Mixtures 



In the New England States and in some other parts of the timothy- 

 growing area, red top can be seeded in mixture with timothy, and on 

 heavy, wet soils this is a good practice. Timothy is very commonly 

 sown with clover — medium red, mammoth, or alsike — in order to 

 get a hay with higher protein content and to better maintain soil 

 productivity; on soils where the clover is subject to winter-killing, 

 both alsike and medium red should be sown. 



Wherever alfalfa can be made to succeed it can be sown in mixture 

 with timothy and clover. After the clover has disappeared from such 

 a mixture, the meadow will continue to produce crops of timothy 

 and alfalfa. When alfalfa is thus grown in mixture with timothy or 

 other grass, it is not as subject to winter injury as when growing alone. 

 This is probably due to the mulchlike effect of the grass roots and 

 leaves. Alfalfa may be grown successfully in mixture with grass 

 when it is not practical to grow it alone, provided the soil has been 

 properly prepared by draining and liming and in other ways. 



Fertilization of the Meadows 



Timothy quickly responds to applications of nitrogen in such car- 

 riers of this element as nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, and 

 others. In meadows where fertilization is to be continued for 2 years 

 or more, the efficiency of the nitrogen carrier is increased by applying 

 it in combination with superphosphate. 



Superphosphate and potash, without nitrogen, usually affect the 

 growth of timothy plants but little. On soils deficient in these ele- 

 ments these fertilizers encourage the growth of volunteer clover plants. 

 Timothy in association with a legume grows more vigorously than 

 alone. In this somewhat indirect way the application of these 

 mineral fertilizers may bring about an increase in the hay crop in 

 timothy meadows. 



Results obtained from experiments conducted in Ohio indicate that 

 applications of soluble nitrogenous fertilizers are most effective in 

 increasing yields when made at rates not exceeding 200 or 300 pounds 

 per acre of nitrate of soda or its equivalent. Applications of nitrogen 

 on timothy made about April 15 have produced somewhat larger 

 average yields than those made earlier or later. Where cyanamide 

 is used, it should be applied about a month earlier than the optimum 

 date for the more soluble nitrogenous fertilizers. 



In experiments in which farm manure has been applied on a pre- 

 ceding corn crop, the yields both of mixed timothy and clover in the 

 first year's hay crop and of timothy in the second year's hay crop 

 have been increased substantially. 



