1881 ,] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
105 
at each end—upon these the board easily 
turns. Figure 1 shows this half of the cover 
turned for putting in the feed. The trough, 
with cover closed, is given in figure 2. 
About Orchard-Grass. 
It is gratifying to note the number of in¬ 
quiries made of late concerning Orchard- 
Grass. It is quite as valuable a grass as 
Timothy, and in some respects preferable to 
that grass, and should be more generally 
known. Its botanical name is Dactylis glom- 
erata, the generic name, Dactylis, being 
nearly the Greek word for “ a finger’s 
breadth,” probably applied to it on account of 
the size of its clusters of spikelets. The en¬ 
graving, figure 1, will allow any one to re¬ 
cognize it, as there is no other common grass 
in which the spikelets, or flower clusters, are 
gathered in dense masses at the ends of the 
•branches of the panicle as in this. Those 
who look more closely into the structure of 
grasses, will find the spikelets to be as in 
figure 2, where the glumes are shown as nearly 
equal, with three florets , the lower palets of 
which terminate in short points. Though 
called Orchard-Grass with us, it is gen¬ 
erally known in England as “ Cock’s-foot.” 
In some works it is given as a native of this 
country, but while it is generally introduced 
in all the older States, it is nowhere a native. 
Still, singularly enough, the success that at- 
Fig. 1.— orchard-grass (Dactylis glomerata). 
tended its cultivation in Virginia, where it 
had been brought from England, in colonial 
times, caused it to be returned to the mother 
country about 1764, as Orchard-Grass, and of 
great value ; thus an interest was created in 
England in one of their own grasses, which 
had not heretofore been highly valued. Since 
Orchard-Grass was thus introduced into Eng¬ 
land, its culture largely increased, and it now 
properly holds a high rank. In this country, 
Fig. 2. —FLOWERS OF 
ORCHARD-GRASS. 
on the contrary, its popularity diminished ; 
and it is only within a few years that interest 
in it has been renewed. Without discussing 
the reasons for this, we may say that we 
know of no other grass, not even the univer¬ 
sally cultivated Timothy, so well deserving 
the attention of our farmers for both hay and 
pasturage, as Orchard-Grass. It adapts itself 
to all varieties of soils; its stems are very 
leafy ; it does well 
in the shade of 
trees; it gives a 
very heavy after- 
math ; and it is in 
its best condition, 
in blossom, at the 
same time with red 
clover ; all of these 
being in its favor 
as a meadow grass. 
For pastures, it is 
quite as valuable, 
starting quite early 
in spring; pushing 
a new growth very 
rapidly after it has been grazed over; lasting 
late in the fall; and enduring drouth better 
than almost any other. Against it are cited 
two faults : 1st. It has a tendency to grow in 
clumps and form tussocks; and 2d. It has 
not sufficient hold upon the soil, but is pulled 
up by the root by the cattle. The first of these 
is overcome by thick seeding, and the second 
by not turning the cattle upon it until the 
roots have taken thorough hold of the soil. 
On this point Col. Killebrew, in his excellent 
work on “The Grasses of Tennessee,” says : 
“ It should not be pastured, the first season, 
until August, however tempting it may be.” 
He states that in eveiy case of complaint as 
to the want of endurance of this grass in 
pastures, he found the trouble due to pastur¬ 
ing too early. Like Timothy, it may be sown 
with grain crops in fall or spring, and is re¬ 
garded as especially suitable to seed with 
oats. The seeds run from 12 to 15 pounds to 
the bushel, those usually offered by seeds¬ 
men weigh 14 pounds. Two bushels to the 
acre is the least that should be sown, and two 
and a half bushels is still better, using about 
15 pounds of Clover seed to the acre. Orchard- 
Grass has been found admirably suited for 
winter pasture in the Southern States. How¬ 
ard, in his pamphlet on “ Grasses and Forage 
Plants at the South,” ranks it as next in im¬ 
portance to the “ Fall Meadow Oat-Grass ” 
(.Arrenatherum avenaceum), both for hay 
and especially for winter pasturage, with both 
leaving the after-math undisturbed, and tunr¬ 
ing the cattle on after Christmas, and if the 
grass is for pasturage only, keeping them on 
after spring opens. One point to which we 
have before referred, finds an illustration in 
this grass ; that is, the importance of improv¬ 
ing our grasses by selection. Something like 
40 years ago, the Messrs. Lauson & Son, of 
Edinburgh, selected some of the most vigor¬ 
ous plants of Orchard-Grass (Cock’s-foot), and 
by continuously sowing and selecting, estab¬ 
lished a variety known as “ Mammoth Cock’s- 
foot,” the seeds of which, at the present day, 
bring a much higher price than those of the 
common kind. We have not yet found out 
what it is possible for us to do in the im¬ 
provement of many of our common grasses. 
!Si”!win" a, ItniMins' Together.— 
Mr. E. B. Repp, Carroll Co., Md., describes 
a method by which he drew together the 
frame of a shed that had been forced apart at 
the plates by winds and heavy snows. As 
outbuildings are damaged in a similar manner, 
we give Mr. R’s. remedy. Figure 1 is a cross- 
section of the shed. A piece of stout rope is 
put around the plates, as shown at a and b. 
Two pulleys are fastened to these “ slings,” 
with ropes running between them, as seen in 
the engraving. A windlass is placed upon 
the outside of the building to receive the 
loose end of the rope, and aid in the work. 
In making the windlass, two strips are first 
nailed upon the outside of the shed, each with 
a notch near one end to receive the “ roller 
in this case it was made by using the gambrel 
employed in hoisting beeves. Two holes at 
right angles to each other are bored in the 
roller to receive the 
two levers used in 
turning thewindlass. 
The apparatus com¬ 
plete is shown in fig¬ 
ure 2. The rope is 
wound around the 
roller a few times to 
keep it from slipping, 
and when the wind¬ 
lass is turned, the 
side of the building is brought back to its 
proper place, when it can fee securely fastened 
by nailing stout pieces of board between the 
plates, rafters, and cross-beams of the shed. 
Fig. 2.—THE WINDLASS. 
Preparing the Soil—Plows and Pulverizers. 
-o-- 
If one crosses the Rio Grande at El Paso, 
he will find himself in Mexico, and among 
vineyards that are famed throughout that 
country for their wine—which is poorer than 
one would suppose it possible for human inge¬ 
nuity to produce from such excellent grapes. 
In these vineyards will be found in use a plow 
which is probably the counter part of that 
used by Noah when he “ planted a vineyard.” 
A stick with the proper natural crook, its 
point roughly shod with iron, scratches the 
surface soil in the valley of the Rio Grande, 
just as it did in oriental countries long before 
the Christian era. In looking at the displays 
of brightly polished, beautifully modelled 
plows made by our best makers, at a recent 
fan-, it was natural to mentally compare the 
miserable primitive plows we had so often 
seen in Mexico, with these elegant productions 
which seem almost perfect. Yet to some of 
our inventors, the most perfect of our plows 
seem, as compared to their ideal, as crude as 
do the primitive crooked-stick plows in com¬ 
parison with the best now made. The office 
of the plow is to turn over and stir the soil; 
