REDTOP AND ORCHARD- GRASS 



153 



grasses. One form has large, erect stems, with broad, 

 coarse leaves. This is the one generally grown for 

 hay, and the seed ordinarily sold as redtop consists 

 mostly of this type. Another form has slender, creep- 

 ing stems, with much finer leaves, and is known as 

 4 1 creeping bent. 1 1 Every gradation between these two 

 forms may be found. Some botanists regard creeping 

 bent as a distinct species, but it is generally considered 

 as only a variety of redtop. This creeping form is 

 quite commonly used as a lawn grass along the north 

 Atlantic seaboard. 



The various forms of redtop are all good pasture- 

 grasses, particularly on moist soils. They make a 

 good sod, and bear cropping and trampling well. 

 Redtop seed is sold both in the chaff and as ' 1 re- 

 cleaned " seed. The latter is simply the ordinary seed 

 from which most of the chaff has been removed. The 

 ordinary seed weighs 10 to 12 lbs. per bushel, the re- 

 - cleaned weighs 35 lbs. per bushel. 



The amount of redtop seed used in the usual grass 

 mixture of New England varies greatly. Some farm- 

 ers sow it very sparingly, using only one or two 

 pounds per acre (of recleaned seed); others make it 

 the principal ingredient of the mixture, using 12 to 18 

 lbs. If ordinary seed is sown, about four times these 

 amounts should be used in order to get the same 

 amount of seed. The recleaned seed is usually cheap- 

 est in the long run. 



In recent years the development of the rice indus- 

 try in Louisiana and Texas has seriously interfered 

 with the rice-growers of the Atlantic coast region, and 

 they are now casting about for grasses and forage 



