68 
FOOD FOR CATTLE. 
The common timothy may be regarded as the standard grass for all the States north of 
Virginia and Tennessee. South of these States, the temperature and dryness are not fa¬ 
vorable to its cultivation. Even in the Northern States, it often suffers from drouth ; or 
it seems to be more impatient of this state of the weather, than any of the other grasses. 
The drouth, or dry atmosphere, upon timothy, is often well marked after mowing it; 
when, if rains do not soon succeed, the sod becomes dry and parched, and the surface 
of the ground cracks. So a dry spring, especially if the field is fed, is seriously injurious 
to the future crop for the same cause. Timothy must first cover the ground, that its 
herbage may protect its roots; and then the farmer may be secure, the entire season, of a 
fine crop of this grass. It will continue to grow until late in autumn. 
Timothy is regarded as a great exhauster of the soil, and on this account it is objected 
to, but without sufficient consideration; for this reason, it is the more valuable food, fur¬ 
nishing in itself an amount of nutriment ecpial to its exhausting powers. This view may 
be true only where the farmer consumes the product on his farm, and is in a condition 
to restore a large proportion of the consumed fodder to his meadows. 
The soil most congenial to timothy, is one well charged with a light black mould and 
occupying a rather low position, as in the vicinity of river bottoms. The mould, from its 
absorbent and retentive powers, secures for the season an amount of moisture sufficient for 
the uses of the plant. 
There are two other kinds of grass which resemble the timothy, viz. Alopecurus pratensis 
(Meadow foxtail grass), and A. geniculatus. The former is regarded as superior to 
timothy ; it does not, however, attain maturity from the seed under four years, and hence 
is not well suited to a system of alternate husbandry. The latter is a native grass, and is 
more abundant in moist or wet places. It is smaller than the Phleum , and is bent at the 
joints. 
Another kind is the Dactylis glomerata (Orchard grass), the flower heads being clustered 
into several smaller heads. It is an introduced grass, and is well adapted to be sown with 
clover, as it comes to maturity at the same time. It is better for pastures than meadows, 
and requires close grazing. It grows rapidly, and, perhaps for this reason, forms a deli¬ 
cate herbage for sheep. 
An earlier kind of grass than timothy, is the Spear grass, Meadow grass, or Kentucky 
blue grass : botanically it is the Poa pratensis. It is a native of Europe, but is extensively 
cultivated in this country. It is perennial, and grows well in all parts of the Union, at 
least as far south as Charleston, S. Carolina. One of the merits of this grass consists in 
its being in a condition for use during a great part of the year. It is an early grass, but 
continues also to quite a late period in the autumn. It furnishes but one flower stalk, 
which, when matured, is succeeded by fine long blades or leaves. 
The genus Poa furnishes also many other species worthy of notice. The P. trivialis 
(Rough meadow grass) resembles the former : it is not as early, but its yield is equally 
great, and its quality not inferior. 
