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J. STECKLER SEED CO., LTD., ALMANAC AND 



RED TOP GRASS. 



Agrostis Vulgaris. 

 This is the best grass of England, the herd 

 grass of the United States; not in honor of 

 any man, but probably because so well adapted 

 to the herd. It is called also Fine Top, Bur- 

 den's and Borden's Grass. Varying greatly 

 in character, according to soil, location, 

 climate and culture; some botanists have 

 styled it A Polymorpha. It grows two to 

 three feet high, and can be mown when four 

 feet high. It grows well on hill tops and 

 sides, in ditches, gullies and marshes, but 

 delights in moist bottom land. It is not 

 injured by overflows, though somewhat pro- 

 longed. In marshy land it produces a very 

 dense, strong net-work of roots capable of 

 sustaining the weight of men and animals 

 walking over it. It furnishes considerable 

 grazing during warm * 'spells" in winter, and 

 in spring and summer an abundant supply of 

 nutrition. It has a tendency, being very 

 hardy, to increase in density of growth and 

 extent of surface, and will continue indefini- 

 tely, though easily subdued by the plow. 

 Cut before maturing seeds it makes a good 

 hay and large quantity. It seems to grow 

 taller in the Southern States than it does 

 further North, and to make more and better 

 hay and grazing. Red Top and Timothy 

 being adapted to the same soil and maturing 

 at the same time, do well together and pro- 

 duce an excellent hay. But the Red Top 

 will finally root out Timothy, and if pastured 

 much will do so sooner. Sow 1 to 1 J bushels 

 per acre, if alone, in September, October, 

 February or March; if with Timothy for hay 

 from 6 to 10 pounds, if with other grasses 

 for pasture, 3 to 5 pounds. It is an excellent 

 pasturage grass, and will grow on almost any 

 kind of soil. 



KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS. 



Poa Pratensis. 



This is also called 

 smooth meadow grass, 

 spear grass, and green 

 grass, all three very ap- 

 propriate, characteris- 

 tic names, but Blue is a 

 misnomer for this grass. 

 It is not blue, but green 

 as grass, and the green- 

 est of grasses. The P. 

 Compressa, flat stalk- 

 ed meadow grass, wire 

 grass, blue grass is 

 blue, "the true blue" 

 grass from which the 

 genus received its tri- 

 vial name. Kentucky 

 Blue Grass, with its 



Kentucky Blue Grass, underground stems and 

 J many roots, sustains 



the heat and drought of the Southern States 



as well as that of Kentucky, where indeed it 

 is subject to severer trials of this kind than 

 in the more Southern States. In fact, it 

 bears the vicissitudes of our climate about as 

 well as Bermuda grass, and is nearly as 

 nutritious. Blue grass grows well on hill 

 tops, or bottom land, if not too wet and too 

 poor. It may be sown any time from Sep- 

 tember to April, preferable perhaps in the 

 latter half of February or early in March. 

 The best catch we ever had was sown the 

 20th of March, on unbroken land, from which 

 trash, leaves, etc., had just been burned. 

 The surface of the land should be cleaned of 

 trash of all kinds, smooth, even; and if re- 

 cently plowed and harrowed, it should be 

 rolled also. The last proceeding is for com- 

 pacting the surface in order to prevent the 

 seed from sinking too deep in the ground. 

 Without harrowing or brushing in, many of 

 them get in too deep to come up, even when 

 the surface of the land has had the roller 

 over it. The first rain after seeding will put 

 them in deep enough, as the seeds are very 

 minute, and the spears of grass small as fine 

 needles, and therefore unable to get out from 

 under heavy cover. These spears are so 

 small as to be invisible, except to close exam- 

 ination; and in higher latitudes this condition 

 continues through the first year. Thus, some 

 who have sown the blue grass seed, seeing 

 the first year no grass, imagine they have 

 been cheated, plant some other crop, and 

 probably lose what close inspection would 

 have shown to be a good catch. This, how- 

 ever, is not apt to occur in the Southern tier 

 of States, as the growth here is more rapid, 

 The sowing mentioned above made on the 

 20th of March, came up promptly, and in 

 three months the grass was from six to ten 

 inches high. One year here gives a finer 

 growth and show than two in Kentucky, or 

 any other State so far North. Sown alone, 

 20 to 26 pounds, that is two bushels should 

 be used; in mixtures, 4 to 6 pounds. 



ENGLISH, or PERENNIAL RYE GRASS. 



Lolium Perenne. 



This is the first grass cultivated in England 

 over two centuries ago and at a still more 

 remote period in France. It was long more 

 widely known and cultivated than any other 

 grass; became adapted to a great variety of 

 soils and conditions, and a vast number 

 (seventy or more) of varieties produced, some 

 of which were greatly improved while others 

 were inferior and became annuals. Intro- 

 duced into the United States in the first 

 quarter of the current centun r it has never 

 become very popular, although shown by the 

 subjoined analysis of Way not to be deficient 

 in nutritive matter. In 100 parts of the dried 

 grass cut in bloom were albuminoids 11.85, 

 fatty matter 3.17, heat producing principles 

 42.24, wood fibre 35.20, ash 7.54. The more 



Sleekier Sells the Best Seeds. 



