224 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



ing ; (2) the relation of the hight of the stack to the 

 rate of settling; (3) the influence of the kind of hay 

 and its condition as to dryness when stacked on the 

 number of cubic feet in a ton. Whether the results will 

 be of much value will depend on whether the influence 

 of these various factors can be reduced to rule. For 

 the present the figures for the number of cubic feet in 

 a ton given in the New Mexico law may be used pro- 

 visionally, unless more accurate ones are known. 

 They are: 512 cubic feet for the first twenty days, 

 422 from the twentieth to the sixtieth day, and 380 

 thereafter. 



SEED HABITS 



The amount of seed which can be harvested de- 

 pends largely on the seed habits of the plant. Many 

 otherwise excellent grasses are rendered useless by 

 yielding very little seed, or seed which lacks vitality , or 

 falls out too soon when ripe to be easily harvested. No 

 grass excels timothy in good seed habits. In the 

 amount of seed produced and the ease with which it is 

 saved and cleaned, timothy has no rival among the 

 true grasses. This fact probably accounts, in large 

 measure, for the popularity of this grass with American 

 farmers. Not that it yields so many more pounds of 

 seed per acre than other grasses, but, its seed being 

 small, an acre of timothy will produce seed enough to 

 sow a larger area than is the case with any other grass 

 grown in this country. An example of poor seed 

 habits, and the resulting uselessness of a grass, is seen 

 in reed canary-grass {Phalaris arundinacea) . It grows 

 wild over nearly all the northern half of this country, 



