Henderson's Special Grass Mixtures 



FOR HAY AND PERMANENT PASTURE. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE AGRICUTTURAL PRESS. 



From "Country Gentleman," published in Albany, N. Y. 

 GRASS CULTURE. 



By invitation of Messrs. Peter Henderson & Co., of New 

 York, a representative of this paper visited their experimental 

 grass plats. 



To reproduce English turf in the face of American drouths and 

 heat may not be possible ; to better the common clover and 

 timothy practice, with its frequent thin results and 

 speedy running out, is surely feasible. Instead of three 

 or four varieties, ten to fifteen or twenty are used ; tall and short 

 grasses, coarse and fine, late and early sorts, are deftly combined 

 in varying proportions according to the end in view. 



Below the taller grasses Mas a thick mat of finer 

 kinds, and the close, rich turf hid every particle of soil. 

 There did not seem to be room for another spear of 

 grass. Going over to an ordinary timothy meadow- 

 near by, the contrast was striking. The individual 

 spears in a foot square could easily be counted; 

 "standing-room" for more was abundant. The soil 

 had not been "worked for all it was worth," and 

 the thoughtful farmer might do some suggestive 

 figuring. In cutting the lower plats next day, it was estimated 

 the yield would run three tons to the acre. (\Ye afterward found 

 on a well-kept Orange County farm that the yield was only half a 

 ton to the acre on fields that yielded three tons last 3'ear. ) 



It is not our purpose to go into the details of grass culture in 

 diis article ; our brief survey and study would not do justice to 

 them. We wish simply to call the attention of farmers to the 

 work in progress, that they may watch for results likely to be of 

 great value. What they will do is what we wait to see. Surely, if 

 "to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before" is 

 worthy of praise and record, the Messrs. Henderson deserve a 

 richer tribute, for they are growing 40 — nay, 100 to 1 ! 



From " American Agriculturist, "published in New York City. 

 BEST GRASSES FOR HAY AND FOR PASTURE. 



By a judicious choice of seeds, mixtures hive been effected 

 which will give constant pasturage in this climate from early 

 spring until late in the autumn. Or, they will yield a heavy crop 

 of hay and a few weeks after are ready for use as pastures, and 

 will remain in good condition for this purpose until winter sets 

 in, and again yielding a good hay crop the next season, and so on 

 year after year. In some of these mixtures the turf is 

 remarkably close and tough, the grass roots matting 

 together thoroughly and going deep down. 



Timothy, and in many parts "timothy and clover," is the 

 standard grass in the country. While timothy is a valuable grass, 

 there are some other kinds so much better, which last longer, yield 

 a heavier crop, will stand various climatic and soil conditions 

 better, it is astonishing that the majority of farmers should still 

 stick to the timothy without even giving one or more of the other 

 kinds and mixtures a fair trial. 



When it is considered that by a very small additional outlay at 

 least double the yield that can be produced by timothy will be 

 obtained by the use of other grasses and mixtures which are of 

 just as good quality as timothy, and some of them better, it is 

 strange that farmers are not willing to depart from the old, deep- 

 worn ruts, and thus effect considerable financial gain. It should 

 also be remembered that a discriminate mixture of 

 grasses and clover gives a better result than does any 

 kind grown by itself, for the simple reason that mix- 

 tures are bound to grow closer together on the ground, 

 and thereby their component species protect one an- 

 other from undue heat and drought ; 



Such mixtures are far superior to timothy or " timo- 

 thy and clover," or any one grass, costing but a little 

 more, lasting much longer, and giving frequently more 

 than double the yield. 



From "Farm and Home," published in Springfield, Mass. 

 MORE HAY AND BETTER PASTURE. 



Bare pastures are a source of loss to the farmer. The broad 

 acres that must be devoted to grass are pa\ ing taxes and interest, 

 and if not covered with luxuriant hay and pasture are breeding 

 weeds. If seeded with well-proportioned mixtures of proper 

 grasses, even the steep hillside will yield pasture and hay, which 

 ever} - farmer knows is rich with money. 



On a stony hillside at their Trial Farm the seedsmen, Peter 

 Hendeson & Co., are testing many varieties and mixtures to find 

 what grasses or mixtures of grasses will make in America the 

 famous turf of the meadows and pastures of Europe. 



The tendency to run out and the many thin stands obtained with 

 timothy and clover, or with any separate grasses, led to the trial 

 of mixtures of imported and other grasses which have become 

 naturalized in America. The natural sod is formed of a mixture of 

 many grasses, each variety having a certain use in meeting the 

 varying conditions of growth. 



The enormous yield of nearly 4'i tons of good hay 

 per acre should convince any one that more hay and 

 lictter pasture can he grown with mixtures than with 

 timothy and clover alone, as, under the very same con- 

 ditions, the latter yielded less than a ton and a half 

 (2,760 lbs.) per acre. Timothy, after being cut, throws all its 

 strength into storing food in a bulbous swelling at the base of the 

 stem, upon which its next season's growth depends, and hence 

 cannot be pastured nor cut a second time without seriously injur- 

 ing the next year's crop. The grasses in both the temporary and 

 permanent mixtures grow direct from the roots, which are dense 

 and fibrous, yielding a second crop each season, and after that can 

 be safely pastured hy one cow per acre. 



From "Rural New Yorker," published in New York City. 

 THE VALUE OF GRASS SEED MIXTURES. 



This firm (P. H. & Co.) has been engaged in a long series of 

 experiments in making up mixtures of grass seeds for hay and 

 permanent pasture, and also for lawns. The underlying idea 

 seems to be that these different grasses, h iving different root 

 systems, will occupy the ground more fully if a number of different 

 kinds are sown together. On the farm, are about 30 acres of 

 these different grasses, some plots sown with singie kinds only, 

 to show the individual manner of growth, and others in mixture. 

 Some of them sown as far back as 1892, and now bearing 

 heavy crops. 



The first piece we visited was one that was seeded with about 

 three bushels per acre of Henderson's Special Grass Mixture for 

 Hay and Permanent Pasture for Light Soil. Mowing had begun 

 in this plot, and it was so thick on the bottom that much 

 difficulty was experienced in getting the mower through 

 it. Some of the taller of the grasses were up to the shoulders of 

 an ordinary man. It was estimated that this cutting would yield, 

 at the very least, 2}4 tons per acre, of the very best of hay, superior 

 to Timothy in feeding value. 



The earliness of the grasses as compared with Tim- 

 othy is a desirable feature, as the haying season comes on at 

 a time when there is little pressing work going on, and the hay 

 is all in the barn before grain harvest. 



Few of the old-time methods of seeding will give an 

 amount of hay equal to this first cutting, and it is said 

 that, after the hay is off, the grasses will start up again 

 so quickly that fine pasturage will be afforded, or at 

 least \Yz ton per acre more hay may be cut in August 

 or September. ' 



Many of the plats were sown six years ago this coming Fall, and 

 have had one dressing of commercial fertilizer and bone, clearly 

 showing the permanent nature of these grasses, as a plot 

 of Timothy sown at the same time ran out and was plowed up and 

 re-seeded a year ago. 



