4881 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
for about two tons per acre. It should be cut 
in early bloom, and culy as much each morn¬ 
ing as can be put under shelter iu the evening, 
unless the owner is thoughtful enough to 
possess hay caps to protect it from rain. 
This may seem a novel way of seeding Tim¬ 
othy; but ibis a good one. Many years ago, 
the writer got a hint of it iu his reading, and, 
as new theories generally look very well on 
paper until they are tided, he determiued to 
test it. Operations began a year in advance 
of sowing the Timothy. There was a large 
horse pond near the barn. It was drained, and 
the muck was piled on the bauks to drain, and 
for convenient use in making a huge compost 
heap of alternate layers of mud, barnyard 
manure. aBhes, the refuse of tanneries, 
slaughter-houses, etc. The 50-cord rick was 
forked over twice before it was fit for use. In 
the mean time, an old 20-acre meadow, too 
wet for growing grain, and too poor to yield a 
tou of hav per acre, was thoroughly under- 
drained with tile laid *13 iuches deep. The ex¬ 
periment wits growing expensive. But the 
next Spring, it was the driest Held on the 
farm for early plowing, and was put in oats, 
as corn could not have been got off the ground 
early enough In the following Summer to 
make way for the Timothy, as I wished to 
sow it. After harvest, the oat stubble was 
plowed under, and the soil was pulverized 
with a Thomas smoothing barrow. Late in 
August, half a bushel of clean Timothy seed 
was sown per acre, and brushed iu. The Fall 
was dry, and the young plants came along 
slowly, butsurely. When the snow came, the 
crop was well set, showing a decided green 
tint on the surface. During the Winter, the 
compost heap was drawn on the Held with a 
manure spreader: but there was not enough 
to cover it, and we scattered common barn¬ 
yard manure over the rest. The next Spring, 
when the snow melted, it wa3 plain to see that 
the Timothy had grown, for it was beginning 
to mat in places on the surface. Respecting 
the comparative value of compost and fresh 
stable manure, in this instance there did not 
seem auy appreciable difference at harvest. 
There was a magnificent crop of hay, and the 
meadow continued for years the envy of the 
neighborhood,long after T had removed to Cal¬ 
ifornia. A portion of it, I believe, is yet in 
Timothy, siuce 1S?3. 
On this coast, our hay is simply wheat, oats 
or barley, cut early for feed. Alfalfa is sown 
precisely like my Timothy meadow, in like 
soil, in the beginning of the rainy season. 
Cloverdale, Cal. 
SEC. PHIL. M. Sl'RINQKR. 
Timothy and Red Clover are the most valu 
able of all the forage plants known in Central 
Illinois. They are usually grown together. 
The Timothy is sown in the Fall with winter 
wheat, ami the clover in the Spring. This is 
not always considered the best course when 
the chief aim is to establish u good meadow. 
The Timothy is liable to winter-kill, and the 
ground is seldom in as good condition in the 
Spring as it should be to receive the clover. 
The plan will auswer, however, when the 
wheat crop is of the greatest value, and the 
seeding to meadow is of secondary importance. 
To secure a good aud even staud for mea¬ 
dow, a thorough preparation of the ground is 
of groat importance, and Ibis can usually he 
had by plowing iu the Fall aud then barrow¬ 
ing and dragging or rolling, as the nature of 
the ground may require, iu the Spriug, This 
work iu the Spring should be done nt. the ear¬ 
liest date possible after the ground is settled 
and dry enough to work nicely. 
Niue pounds each of clover aud Timothy 
should be sown to the acre. This will give the 
proportion of seeds, or plants of each, as one- 
lift, h clover to four-tlfths Timothy. By inauy 
this is considered heavy seeding, and an 
unnecessary expense; but it is not too much. 
Using plenty of good seed helps to insure a 
good staud and make all the better and more 
even growth of lino hav the flrst season. 
The cutting should be done soon after the 
Timothy is in full bloom, and before the seed 
has begun to ripen. It is not always practi¬ 
cable, when there is much haying to he done, 
to have it all cut and cured at exactly the 
right time, ami in the best wuy. We never 
have better hay tbau when the weather and 
the help are such that it ct»u be mown iu the 
forenoon, beginning as soon as the heaviest, of 
the dew is off, cured the same day, and taken 
to the barn or the stack before another dew 
falls. 
Springfield, Ill. 
PROF \VM. BROWN. 
For best hay, we rank Timothy, Meadow 
Fescue, lied Top, and Meadow Fox Tail, with 
the Red and Alsike Clovers, as best in this 
section. The time of seediug depends on 
localities aud seasons; the safe time is Spring, 
but where favorable fall seeding gives the 
best start, feeding is dene in Autumn. For 
rotation, hay and pasture, fifteen pounds 
of grass and eight pounds of clover seed are 
sufficient. In seeding down, barley or spring 
wheat is usually taken. Cutting for hay 
should be regulated by the Timothy. With a 
variety of grasses for bay the use of a tedder 
is ad visible in curing. The above grasses are 
also some of the best for pasture. 
Guelph, Ontario, Can. 
DANIEL BATCHELOR. 
I am reluctantly led to the conclusion that 
there are but few grasses adapted to our rigor¬ 
ous climate, that will make good hay; that 
is, come on uniformly with Timothy in hight 
and time of ripening. The following mixture 
per acre, for hay, is a good one: Timothy, 13 
pouuds; Italian Rye Grass, five pounds; 
Taller Fescue, five pounds; Red Top, three 
pounds; Rough-Stalked Meadow, three 
pounds; Fowl Meadow, two pounds; Sweet 
Vernal, one pound; Medium Clover, five 
pounds. These grasses come well together 
and are, with the exception of the Red Top 
aud the Vernal Grass, of great nutritive 
value. I have purposely excluded from this 
list for ordinary hay, Ray Grass, Orchard 
Grass and Tall Oat Grass. The Ray Grass is 
highly recommended by some American 
writers. I have sown it year after year and 
find it invariably winter-kills, root and blade. 
I believe that this, too, has been the experi¬ 
ence at several agricultural experiment 
stations. 
Orchard Grass and Tall Oat Grass are so 
very early and dominant that they would be 
overripe before the other grasses would be fit 
to cut. But for a soiling crop or for a heavy 
nutritive early-cut hay, these two growu to¬ 
gether, without clover, are very economical, 
as they can he cut, iu favorable sea sous, three 
times and then leave a good rowen fur the 
Fall. The proportions for such a soiling crop 
per acre should be a bushel-aud a-half of Oreh 
ard Grass and half a-bushel of Tall Oat Grass. 
The latter will fill the interspaces between the 
tufty Orchard Grass, aud thus make a better 
sod. 
The above list is for fair average loamy soil 
in good mechanical condition and naturally 
or artificially drained. Where, however, the 
land is very light and sandy theae grasses 
would not all flourish, and a better mixture 
would he Red Fescue,June Grass. Hard Fescue, 
Crested Dog's Tail, Yellow Oat Grass and 
White Clover. The same varieties would do for 
a dry hill side. But these are rather pasture 
than hay grasses, aud should be sown at the 
rate of about five pounds of each, in the mix¬ 
ture,per acre'.except that of White Clover there 
need not be over three pounds. If, however, 
the eutire farm be a deep, sandy loam, then 
a large portion of it should be devoted to the 
growth of Lucern, as that plant flourishes in 
deep, sandy land, and makes the most nutri¬ 
tive fodder of any of the legumes; besides, it 
improves the soil by bringing iu much car¬ 
bonaceous matter and drawing up, from great 
depths, the components of fertility. Lucern 
will not do well where the subsoil is heavy 
aud wet. A heavy, but not wet, clay loam 
devoted to meadow should he sown with Tim 
othy. Red Top, Fowl Meadow, Rough-Stalked 
Meadow and Italian Rye, at the rate of about 
six pouuds each to the acre, in a mixture; to 
this may be added three pouuds of Medium 
Clover. • 
For a wet, peaty, black soil Rough-Stalked 
Meadow, six pounds; Red Top, eight pounds; 
Meadow Fox Tail, four pounds, and Alsike, 
six pounds, would be a good mixture, per acre. 
For laud much shaded the following mixture 
is excellent: One bushel of Orchard Grass, 
one of Meadow Oat Grass, and five or six 
pounds of Wood Meadow Grass to the acre. 
If grass seed is sown without grain, the best 
time would be as soon after the 20th of Sep 
teruber as possible, aud uot later than the 
10th of October in the State of New York. If 
sown early in Autumn and the weather is 
moist and favorable, a root growth will be 
made of sufficient strength to produce a late 
mowing the uext Summer, which will not, of 
course, be accomplished if a wheat crop was 
grown with the grass. 
As to the period iu growth when it should 
be cut . nature shows us that the most delicious 
morsels for cattle are the sweet June grasses, 
which are devoured with avidity aud ou which 
the animals thrive better tbau ou auy other 
feed, while their milk secretions are full and 
copious, and the inilk aud butter are sweet 
and aromatic, having a flavor and a savor 
delightful to the seuses. This being so, 
then the nearer the hay resembles green 
grass the better it is for all economic 
purposes. Heuce grass for hav should 
be cut as soon as the flower scape is well 
formed, and never later than the appearance 
of the floret in the axil of the bract. The 
essential oils which give to grass its aroma, 
aud doubtless its flavor, have all been assimi¬ 
lated, aud disappear wheu the plaut goes to 
seed. There are many grasses which are 
highlyX nutritive before inflorescence, but 
deteriorate rapidly in going to seed, and be¬ 
come, when overripe, of no more value for 
feeding than wheat straw; indeed, overripe 
Orchard Grass is not as good as oat straw. 
Hay cured from young grass would make an 
infusion, or tea, that would fatten a calf. 
Grain aud grass have been Bown together so 
long on some meadows that they will no 
longer bear good crops either of grain or 
grass; and there are people who keep their 
arable laud in crops as long as they can get any¬ 
thing off, and then they seed down to grass 
when the soil is so sterile that it will not pro¬ 
duce a hay crop. It is not going too far to 
say that over half the grass and clover seed 
sown with grain is smothered and utterly lost, 
and in many instances, after the grain is re¬ 
moved, especially if the weather is hot and 
dry, there is no hope for a grass crop without 
re seeding; and even where there is a toler¬ 
able catch, the meadow is retarded for a 
whole season I suppose some will deem it 
folly, but I think wisdom says:—Sow grass 
without any other crops; sow it in Autumn; 
if you are in for rotation, put all your ma¬ 
nure on your grass land, so that when you 
break up the Bod or sward for corn, the land 
may be found in good heart for the crop. Of 
course, there are plenty of instances where 
the land is new or where the fertility has been 
well kept up, in which full success is obtained 
by growing grass and grain together. It 
must, however, be admitted that the sys¬ 
tem of constant seeding with Timothy and 
clover exclusively, is not very successful so 
far as the establishment of good permanent 
meadow or pasture is concerned, and a prime 
reason for this defect is that there are no 
stoloniferous grasses to send down their roots 
thickly through the sod and thereby hold 
the bulbous roots of the Timothy down into 
the ground. It is next to impossible to estab¬ 
lish permanent grass where Timothy and 
clover only are sown. In fact, a close mow¬ 
ing, followed by dry, hot weather, will often 
destroy the bulbous roots of the Timothy en¬ 
tirely, thus causing that grass to disappear, 
leaving no aftermath at all. Timothy is one 
of the best and most nutritious of grasses; yet 
under the usual culture it stools but little, and 
the aftergrowth of the young bulbs is always 
thin, thus showing plaiuly that to keep that 
grass well in the ground, especially where it 
is liable to lift with the frost, it ought to be 
grown with such other good grasses as will 
come on with it to the hay harvest. 
Utica, N. Y. 
L. N. BONHAM. 
On a farm in Southern Ohio, which is part 
clay and part bottom land underlaid with 
gravel, the writer has tried of the grasses. 
Timothy, Orchard Grass, Blue Grass, and Red 
Top, and of the clovers the Common Red and 
Big English, The farm is better suited for 
corn, wheat, and barley than for grass. Two 
fields of clay land have been kept in grass 
eight years out of ten, while the bottom fields 
are kept in corn two years, wheat or barley, 
oue year, aud clover, mixed with Timothy 
aud Orchard Grass, one year. 
On stiff clay lauds it is probable this method 
of seediog aud rotation would not be the best. 
In judging of the merits of different methods 
of cultivation and of the crops grown, it is 
important that we keep in view the character 
of the soil and the location. On the bottom 
lauds where there ore sandy spots or where 
the gravel comes near the surface, none of the 
grasses tried gives as good results as Orchard 
Grass and common Red Clover. Ou the clay 
lauds 1 have been able to cot. from two to three 
tons of Timothy for 10 years in succession. 
The crops of Timothy hay from the clay lands 
have been so uniformly good that Timothy is 
preferred for hay, where hay and not pasture 
and fertilization is the object. This field is 
conveniently located to receive the mauure 
from the barn where are kept the driving 
horse and two cows. A top-dressing of man¬ 
ure was thus provided and given each Fall, 
soon after harvest. The 11th Timothy crop 
will be taken this year, and, but for the Blue 
Grass which is coming in, it could be kept 
profitably in Timothy for years to come. 
Wheu the Falls have been favorable # for 
growth, the aftermath has given us from one- 
half to a tou of good hay per acre. 
To prepare for meadow, I plow deep in July, 
laying off the field so as to have no dead fur¬ 
rows; harrow thoroughly and top-dress 
with fine barn-yard manure, five to eight tons 
per acre. In the course of two weeks, after a 
rain, I harrow again and roll so as to compact 
the ground and secure a uniform condition of 
the surface. Early in August, I harrow again 
with Scotch or Thomas harrow, whichever 
will suit the condition of the ground best, and 
sow on the fresh soil a bushel of clean Timothy 
to six acres; and cross sow, that it may be 
most uniformly spread. No brushing, har¬ 
rowing or rolling after sowing is needed, if 
the ground is properly prepared beforehand. 
If it is a dry time, a light drag made of boards 
or a roller does good work. Timothy sown in 
this way will give a full crop of prime hay 
the July following, and for years to come, if 
not pastured in the Fall. Fall pasturing of 
meadow is saving at the spiggot and wasting 
at the bung. 
On bottom land, where I have a four- 
year rotation, I have tried various times for 
sowing clover and grass seeds on the wheat. 
If one could be sure of finding a time before 
the middle of April, when the surface would 
be dry enough to crack and pulverize nicely 
under the harrow, I would always defer sow¬ 
ing the Timothy until Spring, and then harrow 
the barley or wheat in April, and sow the 
clover and grass seeds on the fresh soil. On 
that intended for clover hay and seed, sow 
one bushel of fresh, clean, home grown seed 
to six or eight acres, accordiug to the condition 
of the soil. On that intended for pasture or 
hay, sow the same amount of clover seed to 
gather with a peek of clean Timothy and two 
bushels of Orchard Grass to eight acres. 
When sown after harrowiug, in March or 
April, I have never failed to have a good 
stand. The Timothv and Orchard Grass, like 
the young clover, will be greatly injured by 
pasturing after the wheat is taken off. The 
animals pull up so much of the youog Orchard 
Grass, aud injure the young Timothy and 
clover by tramping iu August aud September, 
that I prefer to mow it in October. While 
the hay made is not the best, it makes enough 
to pay for the trouble of cutting, and leaves 
the ground clear of all trash, and causes the 
clover and grasses to thicken up so as to make 
excellent, clean hay or pasture for the follow¬ 
ing season. Young clover and grass thus 
treated, are never injured by freezing, as is 
that which is pastured much in the Fall. 
As to the time of cutting Timothy, I cut 
wheu the seed is in the dough; that is, soon 
after the bloom is off. If the weather is good 
it can be cut in the morning, spread out be¬ 
fore noon, and hauled in before six o’clock. 
If cut before blooming, the work of curing is 
increased and the weight of the hay is less by 
at least 30 per cent. Considering the feeding 
quality of the hay, that it weighs more, keeps 
better in the mow, and can be made at less 
risk and less labor tbau when cut earlier, I 
think it pays far better to cut when iu the 
dough, than before. As to the argument that 
it should be cut after the seed begins to shat¬ 
ter. so as to keep up the meadows, I prefer to 
put on enough seed to secure a first class 
stand at the start, and make a better quality 
of hay, and more of it than can be made on 
the system of thin seeding, with the hope of 
renewal and thickening up by the shattering 
of seed from the hay crop. 
The same principles apply to the time of cut 
ting clover for hay. Cut when in fall bloom, 
and that does not usually occur until about one- 
fourth of the blooms turn brown. At this 
stage of growth the per cent, of woody fiber 
is less and that of albuminoids greater than if 
cat later. It is sufficiently mature, too, to 
cure readily. If the weather is favorable, I 
cut in the morning as soon as the dew is off, 
and between 11 and 13 o'clock it is well shaken 
up. By 1:30 the rake starts aud the clover 
hay is put into the barn before five o’clock. 
If there be more cut tbau can be put in by 
that time, it is put into cocks or close wind¬ 
rows before any dew falls, aud hauled iu next 
■ day, after it has been loosened and turned, to 
be sure that it is free from all external mois¬ 
ture. Clover hay can be safely put iu the 
barn the first day, provided it is put in free 
from external moisture. There is no use to 
attempt to put up clover hav the day it is cut, 
if the conditions for curing are uot favorable, 
aud you are willing to stop hauling to the 
barn by five o'clock or, better, by four o'clock. 
It must go iu when the sun is hot and there is 
no moisture condensed on the hay. If it can¬ 
not be put into that condition the first day, 
then try to reach it by the second. It pays to 
shake np hay carefully and cure it as quickly 
as possible. We wish to preserve all the foli¬ 
age and have it come out of the mow 
bright and fragrant. After the external 
moisture is off, the sooner it goes into the mow 
the better will the hay be, aud the less the 
risk and labor. 
We have tested the several methods of two 
or three days curing before hauling to the 
mow, aud have settled down upon the above 
as the best. We avoid much of the risk of 
getting the hay wet in the field, which is 
ruinous to clover hay. 
If the land is not too strong, Orchard Grass 
is an improvement,sown with clover intended 
for hay. In strong, black land, however, I 
have found the culm encased by the several 
folds of the leaves, where cut by the mower, 
is so thick and sappy that it will not cure be¬ 
fore the leaves are so dry as to crumble into 
powder. Hence on strong, black land I do 
not sow Orchard Grass with clover intended 
for hay, but use Timothy instead. On thin 
land Orchard Grass is to be preferred, since it 
blooms at the same time as the clover, and its 
