Vol. 23, No. 8 
Page 3 
The current high market price of redtop and timothy seed may help shorten 
the time required for renovating old meadows. In 1979 and 1930 the base price 
paid to farmers for redtop has ranged from $1.00 to $2.00 per lb. Timothy 
prices are now $0.35 to $0.40 per lb. At these prices, income may reach $^00 
per acre (although average per-acre income is substantially lower), to be shared 
with tenants and The Nature Conservancy or the Department of Conservation. 
There is little production cost to this grass-seed farming compared with soybean 
or corn farming. 
Several lessees are currently willing to plow old meadows in August and 
reseed them directly to redtop-timothy the same month. Plowed fields are 
fertilized (typically with 100 lb per acre of 13-A6-0 and 100 lb per acre of 
0 -0-60), disked, seeded with A lb per acre of redtop and 2 lb per acre of 
timothy, and then rolled. Spraying with 2, 4-D appears to be essential the 
following spring because control of Solidago spp. and other perennial forbs and 
woody sprouts is not as good as with the longer rotation. This approach is 
being tried on several sanctuaries, and if moderately successful, the percentage 
of nest cover available on each sanctuary unit may be increased from about 65% 
to perhaps 90% annually. 
Ecology and Management of White-tailed Deer - W- 87 -R C. M. Nixon, 
L. P. Hansen, 
J. E. Chelsvig 
From mid-February through June 1980, all observations of deer were recorded 
by date, time, location, and general weather conditions. These records began 
after several deer had been captured and marked in Allerton Park. Observations 
were made during spotlighting sessions at night and during the day while working 
in the park. Table 2 summarizes observations of marked and unmarked deer for 
2 -week periods in 1930. 
The number of deer seen peaked during the first half of April but decreased 
sharply in late April and early May. This decrease coincided with the blossoming 
of vegetation in the woods. As deer made increased use of the woods, they were 
less likely to be observed from the road. 
Forbs and grasses began to green-up during the last week of March. Buds on 
understory shrubs broke during the second week of April. Understory trees began 
to leaf-out 18-22 April. By the week of 27 April, understory grasses and forbs 
were 6-8 inches tall and leaves were sprouting on the canopy trees. 
The mean number of deer per group shows 2 substantial decreases that 
coincide with other observations. The first decrease (from the first half of 
April through the first half of May) was evidently the principal break-up of 
the winter herds into smaller groups--probably into complete or partial family 
groups. At this time, some of the marked deer dispersed from the park. 
