1 [ rn ^ i^p r-v v^ ^ J I..,/ , 3 j-^ r i 1 L-^ * MEADOWS AND PASTURES By JOSEPH E. WING Staff Correspondent of The Breeder's Gazette Chicago: The Breeder's Gazette f/f/aa .'•••• • - •"". Copyrighted, 1911, r'« £1 {'*••• ' * •«'• t r^Y SANDERS PUBLISHING CO. c * " ' All rights reserved. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE "WHERE THE AUTHOR LIVES AND THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN" 2 TIMOTHY (Phleum pratense) 24 EFFECT OF TIME OF CUTTING ON TIMOTHY 27 REDTOP (Agrostis \ulgaris) 43 ORCHARD GUASS (Dactylis glomerata) 47 GROWTH MADE BY ORCHARD GRASS 49 BROME GRASS (Brornus inermis) 51 MEADOW FESCUE (Festuca elatior) 54 SHEEP FESCUE (Festuca ovina) « ; 57 ITALIAN RYEGRASS (Lolium perenne) 59 TALL OATGRASS (Arrhenatherum avenaceum) 61 JOHNSON GRASS (Sorghum halapense) 63 KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS (Poa pratensis) 77 A VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN PASTURE 81 GRAZING IN THE VIRGINIA MOUNTAINS 83 EXPORT STEERS ON VIRGINIA BLUEGRASS 93 TETHERING CATTLE ON GRASS IN FRANCE 95 CANADA BLUEGRASS (Poa compressa) - 101 BERMUDA GRASS (Cynadon dactylon) 113 TYPICAL BERMUDA GRASS PLANT 119 CARPET GRASS (Paspalum compressum) 123 TEXAS BLUEGRASS (Poa arachnifera) 125 QUACK GRASS ( Agropyrum repens) 127 NIMBLEWILL (Muhlenbergia diffusa) . . 131 SOYBEAN ROOTS WITH NODULES 136 WHITE CLOVER IN TENNESSEE : 151 COMMON RED CLOVER (Trifolium pratense) 153 DODDER ON RED CLOVER „ 163 SWEET CLOVER (Melilotus alba) 179 RED CLOVER ROOTS WITH TUBERCLES ; 179 HAIRY VETCH ( Vicia villosa) 184 TYPICAL HAIRY VETCH PLANT 186 COWPEA PLANT 186 CANADA FIELD PEA PLANT 193 COWPEA PLANT WITH LONG ROOTS 195 RACK FOR CURING COWPEA HAY 197 COWPEA HAY COCKED OVER RACK 198 COWPEA HAY RACK READY TO MOVE 199 COWPEAS IN A SOUTHERN FIELD 201 VELVET BEAN PLANT AND PARTS 203 SOYBEAN PLANT 205 TYPICAL SOYBEAN PLANT 207 SOYBEANS IN A TENNESSEE FIELD 209 DODDER ON AN ALFALFA PLANT 213 MATURE DODDER ON ALFALFA 213 BLUEJOINT GRASS (Deyenxia Canadensis) 249 FOWL MEADOW GRASS (Poa serotina) 251 BORDER LEICESTER SHEEP ON SCOTCH PASTURE 255 GRASS AND SHEEP IN ENGLAND 259 HORSES IN A FRENCH PASTURE 269 BLUEGRASS CUT FROM UNMANURED LAND 276 BLUEGRASS FROM MANURED LAND 277 LAMBS IN ENGLISH HURDLES 295 MAP OF ENGLISH PASTURE WORK 312 SKETCH SHOWING GAINS ON GRASS 319 CRIMSON CLOVER IN GUERNSEY 337 PARA GRASS IN FLORIDA 361 JAPANESE CANE IN FLORIDA 362 VELVET BEANS IN SOUTHERN FIELD , , , . 363 NATAL GRASS FIELD , 365 465735 Next in importance to the divine profusion of water, light and air, those three physical facts which render existence possible, may be reckoned the universal beneficence of grass. Lying in the sun- shine among the buttercups and dandelions of May, scarcely higher in intelligence than those minute tenants of that mimic wilder- ness, our earliest recollections are of grass; and when the fitful fever is ended, and the foolish wrangle of the market and the forum is closed, grass heals over the scar which our descent into the bosom of the earth has made, and the carpet of the infant be- comes the blanket of the dead. 'Grass is the forgiveness of Nature^her constant benediction. Fields trampled with battle, saturated with blood, torn with the ruts of cannon, grow green again with grass, and carnage is for- gotten. Streets abandoned by traffic become grass-grown, like rural lanes, and are obliterated. Forests decay, harvests perish, flowers vanish, but grass is immortal. Beleaguered by the sullen hosts of winter it withdraws into the impregnable fortress of its subterranean vitality and emerges upon the solicitation of spring. Sown by the winds, by wandering birds, propagated by the subtle horticulture of the elements which are its ministers and servants, it softens the rude outlines of the world. It invades the solitude of deserts, climbs the inaccessible slopes and pinnacles of moun- tains, and modifies the history, character and destiny of nations. Unobtrusive and patient, it has immortal vigor and aggression. Banished from the thoroughfares and fields, it bides its time to return, and when vigilance is relaxed or the dynasty has perished it silently resumes the throne from which it has been expelled but which it never abdicates. It bears no blazonry of bloom to charm the senses with fragrance or splendor, but its homely hue is more enchanting than the lily or the rose. It yields no fruit in earth or air, yet should its harvest fail for a single year famine would depopulate the world. — -John James Ingalls. Consider what we owe to the meadow grass, to the covering of the dark ground by that glorious enamel, by the companies of those soft, countless, and peaceful spears of the field. Follow but a little time the thought of all that we ought to recognize in those words. All ^spring and summer is in them — the walks by silent scented paths, the rest in noonday heat, the joy of the herds and flocks, the power of all shepherd life and meditation; the life of the sunlight upon the world, falling in emerald streaks and soft blue shadows, when else it would have struck on the dark mould or scorching dust; pastures beside the pacing brooks, soft banks and knolls of lowly hills, thymy slopes of dawn overlooked by the blue line of lifted sea; crisp lawns all dim with early dew, or smooth in evening warmth of barred sunshine, dented by happy feet, softening in their fall the sound of loving voices. — John Ruskin. PREFACE. The genesis of this book was a ride across England one day in May, 1907. The earth was green and beauti- ful, the pastures lush, the meadows giving brave promise. Many cows grazed the pastures, fleecy sheep climbed the hills of Derbyshire, great mares watched their lubberly colts race across the sward and all was one harmonious scene of peace, restfulness and security. There was some- thing especially alluring in an agriculture based essentially on permanent things like meadows and pastures that do not let fields erode, that maintain and build fertility, that make possible the higher types of agriculture based on keeping good animals, on making milk for babes, wool for soft garments or fine young horses for the use of man. All along the way I observed there was much doing in the meadows. Great hopper-shaped machines on two wheels were going to and fro over the grass distributing something, I knew not what. Evidently the grasses were being fed; evidently the wonderful carpet of green did not "just happen" — it was part of a definite plan. It was fed, with what ? I learned a great deal during that summer in Europe of the habits of men in feeding grasses in that land, in making and maintaining meadows and pastures. All my life I had loved grasses and clovers, the meadowland and the pasture, as had my fathers and grandfathers before me, and this work appealed to me. I resolved to help on the same sort of work in America. My book "Alfalfa in (7) 8 MEADOWS AND PASTURES America" was the first step, and was a labor of love. With that book out of the way, I took up this one and have labored on it intermittently ever since. I am con- scious of its imperfections and limitations, and can only plead that in America the work of learning what can be done with meadows and pastures is so new that I can not find data. Let me here give thanks to the men who have helped me. On my table has lain constantly BeaFs "Grasses of North America." "Spillman's Farm Grasses of the United States," Thos. F. Hunt's "The Forage and Fiber Crops of America," and every known bulletin of the various states of America and the Department of Agriculture. I have also drawn considerably from E. B. Voorhees' "Forage Crops." In truth, it has not infrequently come over me with wonder, "Why, here is better material than you can present ; Why not tell your readers to go directly to Beal, Hunt, Spillman or Voorhees rather than to read a book of your own?" I do, indeed, earnestly advise each reader to buy all of these books. They are all valuable, each one in its own way. Nevertheless, I have been able here to add, I hope, a little to the sum of knowledge of grasses and clovers, their care and the feeding of meadow and pasture land, so that maybe this book will find use on American farms. INTRODUCTION. I sit to write this book just as spring comes timidly sweeping over the land. Winter has been long and cold, the naked cornfields are sodden, gullied with winter rains ; there is no hint of life thereon. Wherever the plow held sway last summer there is rueful countenance today. I look out across wide stretches of meadow and pasture land. There already the ground is covered with green- ness, the tiny grass blades are pushing up, the clovers are coming, too, the soil is alive, the field is a living thing, robing itself with green. On the cornlands there has been waste during winter. The rains have washed; the fer- tility has leached away. Not so with the fields of grass and clover ; they have more than held their own ; they are richer, not poorer, for the lapse of time. Pastures feed mankind; they are the bedrock of civ- ilization. From my window I see cows tranquilly graz- ing the short, tender grass under the lee of the hill — the grass that the first sun has warmed and made sweet. Those cows are the foster-mothers of the human race. They are alchemists, transforming the green carpet of na- ture into milk yellow with cream, food for mankind, making sturdy limbs of childhood and brain, muscle and endurance in man. Children love the wide pastures, the sunny, grassy slopes. The largeness, freedom and sweet- ness of the grassy outdoors build the child. The cow comes homeward with swinging udder filled to nourish, (9) 10 MEADOWS AND PASTURES to build, to replenish the mother, the strong sons, the little toddling children. Truly their flesh is grass. In another pasture I see white-fleeced sheep; I hear the tinkle of their bells. Eagerly they nip the tender grass and the budding clovers. Their lambs race on the hill-slopes; a grave-faced man with stooping shoulders walks among them, giving each ewe and each lamb a searching glance. Under one arm he carries a dangling lamb, one of new-born twins, wandered from their mother. Presently he unites the little family and with satisfaction sees the mother ewe own her lamb, and with true maternal instinct proceed to fill it with milk. Its little tail wags a joyous story; the shepherd smiles and goes on his way. The pastures clothe mankind. The races of men who wear wool dominate the world. The keeping of sheep has made characters so strong, so brave, manly and true that they have changed the history of the world. Moses keeping his father-in-law's flock on the desert ranges of Midian dreamed there dreams, gained strength, faith and persistent courage that enabled him to lead the children of Israel from bondage to the Promised Land. Young David, watching sheep on the hills of Judea, gained strength, courage and farsighted wisdom that led him to be the deliverer of his people, their great- est king and singer. There is something that comes from living amid pastures that makes men sane, patient, endur- ing, imbued with deep love for their land and their country. Carrying farther the thought of the influence of pas- tures on, civilization, I see grazing on the hillside a mare and a foal. While the sheep clothes and helps feed man- INTRODUCTION 11 kind the horse gives him his strength. By means of the horse he subdues forests, emerges into new lands which he makes into states, plows, plants and reaps fields of maize or of wheat, drag harvests to the railways that carry them, to the hungry peoples of the world. The horse creates highways and maintains them, creates com- merce, creates and carries food, fuel, clothing — all the things that go to make up the needs of man. While the sheep comforts mankind and the cow nourishes, the horse makes man what he is — strong, swift, bold, daring. And all this comes from the pasture. In the past we have not esteemed pastures as we should. We have with our pastures an inheritance of neglect. In the beginning when fields were carved with infinite toil from forests, the maize was fenced, the wheat enclosed, the animals were turned outside. That land which had received no labor was made pasture. Since then we have followed a like practice ; all our labor, all the manure, all the lime and drainage, go to the plow land, the pasture receiving nothing. The richest, most level and best- drained lands are plowed ; what is too rough or too poor or too wet is made into pasture. In the northern and middle states grasses come of their own accord, so on pastures none are sown. The owner knows little or noth- ing as to the profit derived from this pasture. Very likely he will tell you that it has no profit at all, only conven- ience. Year by year the grasses grow of their own ac- cord; they require no sowing, no expense save fencing. No credit is given for gallons of milk produced from this grass, for pounds of butter, for growth of young pigs, colts, lambs and calves. The work horses run on the 12 MEADOWS AND PASTURES pasture at night, but die owner forgets to credit the pas- ture for helping in their upkeep and conducing greatly to their health. When he has his plow lands well under hand, he turns longing eyes toward his pasture, and probably sets the fence in so that he can plow a slice of it and add it to the field. It is doubtful whether he has any acre of plow land that is making him more clear profit than the same width of pasture land, yet he knows it not. It has never occurred to him to drain his pasture land, to feed it. to lime it perhaps, and make it more profitable. The purpose of this book is to bring this matter of permanent grass and clovers, the meadows and pastures, before farmers, helping them to see the profit that may be had from them, helping them make two blades of grass grow where only one grows now. It is high time. The year of 1910 witnessed almost a famine in many cities, with foods so high in price that men, women and children have made great outcry, and with good reason. The way to feed the people is not to plow more land, but better to till what land is plowed. To feed the people we must first broaden our permanent pastures, and make them more productive. An acre of bluegrass has produced 500 pounds of beef in Virginia. An Illinois cornfield with a 4O-bushel 'crop (above the average for that state) \vould make fewer pounds of beef or pork. The Virginia pasture is not eroding and is losing its fertility at least much more slowly than the land planted to corn, given cultivation and exposed for seven months to leaching and washing of rains. I know grazing farms in Virginia that have yielded $15 per acre in beef and lambs and colt flesh. Laying down lands to pasture or INTRODUCTION 13 meadow is not going backward in civilization or develop- ment. The growth of our cities makes call for more milk, cream, lambs, pigs, calves and colts. We can lay down a fourth of our corn acres and with feeding and good culture grow more on the remaining three acres than we have been accustomed to grow on the four. By the aid of the land laid down to pasture we can become in a measure independent of distant sources of supply for animals to feed. The pasture land will make our lads better linked to the soil. A boy is -not easily fastened to a plowed field ; his affections are not deeply set on a corncrib or a grain bin. The pasture, with its inhabitants, the frolicking lambs, the bright-eyed calves, the sturdy colts and great, gentle mares — these touch his heart and make him glad to succeed his father on the old home farm. Withal there is such deep ignorance of the art of making, holding and feeding meadows and pastures in America that I have thought it well worth while under- taking these investigations and seeking to help what I could. Before I began this task I addressed a letter to each experiment station director in the United States asking for help. It was amazing to see how many re- plied in effect, "We regret that we have made no in- vestigations along the line of work about which you in- quire, and have no record of ever having fertilized any pasture or permanent grassland." Beside these letters, I did receive many most helpful ones not only from home, but some even more inspiring from abroad. In the Old World one finds pastures most prized, best fed, best cared for; there already men have begun to learn 14 MEADOWS AND PASTURES the art and science of making two blades of grass grow where but one grew before. I wish this book to be as short, simple and concise as will go with accuracy. I promise to leave out of it everything that my conscience will permit me to leave out. There are 3,500 species of grasses in the world and 6,500 species of legumes. All of these are interesting. Life is so short that we shall here consider only those that have proved their merit. The list is a surprisingly short one both of clovers and grasses. THE GRASSES (GRAMINEOE). Probably the grasses are the most useful plants in the world. It may be that more than half the individual plants in the world are grasses. It is a great family of more than 3,500 species, embracing species that are so tiny that they hardly reach an inch in height, and the giant bamboos of the tropics that sometimes grow to be 100' or more. Corn is a giant grass ; and wheat, rye, oats, barley, rice and sugar cane, all are grasses. Then there are millets, sorghum, Kaffir -corn, broom corn — all grasses. Some few plants we call grasses are not true grasses ; the sedges are of a lower order of plants. Broom sedge is not a grass. One can know a grass usually by its round often hol- low stem, its long, narrow leaf with usually parallel veins and its manner of growth, not from buds at the terminus of the- part, but by leaf and stem being pushed up from beneath. All grass stems are jointed ; the nodes are bulging and usually solid. The leaves clasp the stems in enveloping sheaths. Most grasses, especially the perennials, have creeping underground stems or root-stocks. These make new stems to spring up around the parent stem and thus perennial grasses usually thicken themselves rapidly. Some an- nual grasses do this and some do not ; nearly all grasses "stool" or increase by sending up many stems from one root. Wheat may send up 40 or more stems from one seed if the soil is rich; corn will sucker, sending up sev- (15) 16 MEADOWS AND PASTURES eral stalks, as will the sorghums, millets and all those classes of large grasses. Some species send out long trailing stems or runners lying flat on the earth and tak- ing root at each joint. Some, like the quack grass (Agro- pyrum repens), fill the soil with a mass of roots that will each send up new stems and if dragged to a fresh spot will there make a new center of growth. The number of species of grasses is enormous, yet we have adopted into our system of agriculture but a few sorts. In part that is due to the ease or difficulty of seeding grasses. Timothy grass, for example, is so easily sown and the seed so easily gathered, that it is soonest set of any, and has become the standard hay grass of northern climes. In some regions Kentucky bluegrass is the almost universal pasture grass because it comes in of itself; in other regions with different soil (poor and lacking in lime) redtop has possession. Naturally the farmer follows the line of least resistance, yet it is by no means certain that he has adopted into his agriculture all the best grasses that nature has provided. On the mountains and hills of Utah, for instance, once grew wild bunch grasses that would keep cattle fat all winter, standing dry, yellow and cured on their stems. We have not yet learned to use that bunch grass in cul- tivation; maybe we shall never learn it. In Ohio the wild grass of the open plain, blue joint (Calamagrostis Canadensis), made far more hay to the acre than tim- othy does, and I think the hay was fully as good. Some day we shall do more towards using now neglected spe- cies ; their seeding habit is what is now in the way. On the other hand, many grasses listed as useful are GRASSES FEES 17 not in use, and there must be good reason for this. Some of the little used but recommended grasses are not easily established. Sheep fescue, for example, I have always found most difficult to establish in Ohio, though the few plants that I have succeeded in getting have grown well. So of a number of the other fescues ; while they may be useful grasses in their place, yet the part they play in American agriculture is negligible, with the exception of Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis). While one may doubt the wisdom of the individual farmer, here and there, yet there is no denying that collectively, as a mass, they have followed the lines of kast resistance and, as a rule, found the plants that will give them best results. There are exceptions to this rule. For example, in most of the states north of the Ohio River brome grass (Bromus inermis) seems to me to be the best of all pasture grass- es, yet because it does not come of itself it is as yet al- most never seen. So, too, the reed canary grass seems unusually prolific and productive, but 'because of difficulty in seeding it is seldom used. HOW GRASSES FEED. Grasses have wonderful root development. Their fine, fibrous roots penetrate deeply into the soil and occupy each tiny crevice. I have seen barley roots penetrate 8' into loose loamy soil in California before the tops had reached 12" in height. These tiny rootlets have great power to absorb; some of them have power even to dis- . solve. Grasses use a good deal of silica to stiffen their stems. This silica is sometimes dissolved from grains of quartz sand. Some silica-loving plants will even etch 18 MEADOWS AND PASTURES glass that comes in contact with their roots, dissolving it to obtain their building material. Grasses have great power of absorbing whatever fertilizing materials there may be in the soil. Their roots cluster thick wherever there is food, finding any decaying material in the soil and nesting there in multitudes. There seems indeed a subtle intelligence in nature; it is almost as though the grass roots were alive, for they seem to seek out and find the desirable feeding places in the soil. The fact prob- ably is that they penetrate nearly every crevice in the soil, but unless they find nourishment they do not thicken and increase. The way grass roots, find their way through the soil is interesting. The tip of a growing root has a constant motion to each side, so that as it pushes for- ward it feels its way, entering every open channel. This explanation explains only in part, for the fact is that the roots of a plant persist in keeping a more or less direct course away from the stem, spreading in every direction much as the branches do above ground. Were there not some subtle intelligence in nature the roots would double back on themselves and tangle inex- tricably. They very fully occupy the soil and to far greater depth than is often supposed, especially if the subsoil happens to be permeable and fertile. This ex- plains why underdrainage helps grasslands and why grasses so thoroughly use up soil moisture during periods of drouth. Plants absorb the moisture and available plant food of the soil, having also the power to dissolve locked-up, min- eral plant food. Therq are four elements that the plants mainly need in soils, (the others usually being in plenti- GRASSES AND CLOVERS TOGETHER . 19 ful supply and so of lesser importance in considering the fertility of a soil). These elements are phosphorus, po- tassium, nitrogen and calcium. It is notable that soils seem to select their plants, or vice versa. One finds in a certain soil one type of grasses, in 'another soil a very dif- ferent type. Where lime abounds, with phosphorus, po- tassium and nitrogen, one sees the Kentucky bluegrass occupying all the land, no other species being able to main- tain a foothold. In- a soil poorer in lime and phosphorus Canada bluegrass will be found, and where lime is mark- edly deficient with also a scarcity of other mineral ele- ments (they usually go together) redtop predominates. Clovers gather nitrogen from the air through the ac- tion of bacteria that inhabit their roots. Grasses have no such affinity for bacteria, and no means of gathering nitrogen. Grasses feed largely on nitrogen and soon take it out of the soil when kept closely cropped or mown off for hay. GRASSES AND CLOVERS SHOULD BE GROWN TOGETHER. Because clovers have power to provide nitrogen they and the grasses should always be grown together. In- deed, this is nature's way. There is commonly seen in nature an intermixture of plants and none more perfect or adapted to good ends than the mixture of grasses with clovers. One often sees an old pasture become thin and the grasses somewhat feeble, then white clover appears and overruns it. The clover finds mineral elements suffi- cient and the grasses weak and off their guard. After the clover has grown well there for a time the soil is filled with nitrogen once more and then the grasses spring up with renewed vigor and the clover is subdued and nearly 20 MEADOWS AND PASTURES suppressed. When the grasses have again exhausted part of the available nitrogen and become less vigorous the clover reappears, and so the endless round of nature goes on. Timothy yields much more hay when red clover is sown with it than when sown alone; Bermuda grass thrives best when white or bur clover is grown with it, for any clover will secure nitrogen from the air. AN OLD SOD IS RICH. "To break a pasture will make a man, to make a pas- ture will break a man," is an old English saying. It is well known that sod ground is rich, especially rich in nitrogen. Grasses will not yield their maximum till they have accumulated a "sod." What is a sod? It is a tough fibrous mass of roots, stems and decaying leaves; half is alive and half is dead. It is made up of all the plants that grow on the pasture — grasses, clovers and weeds. It may be as tough almost as a carpet, and can be cut and rolled like a green rug. Sods contain much nitrogen. How do they get it ? It was not till 1901 that we knew of a group of beneficent bacteria that live on decaying veg- etable matter in the soil, the "azotobacter." This group of bacteria revels in old pasture sods ; the bacteria like a soil rich in decaying vegetation, with enough lime, with air in plenty and moisture enough. It is through these azotobacter that old sods, even when clovers have been absent, are yet rich in nitrogen. PRODUCTIVITY OF PASTURES. Old sods often have double the carrying power of new- ly-seeded grass land. The reasons for this may be va- rious, yet one chief reason is in the presence in the old SOD-BOUND; HOW GRASSES GROW 21 pasture of a sod, a dense mass of decaying stems, leaves and rootlets, with their accompanying bacterial flora add- ing nitrogen to the soil to promote life in the living stems. The lesson is plain; do not overstock young grassland; let it grow rank enough so that part of the grass may fall to the ground and decay to start the development of these life-giving bacteria. The work may also be greatly expedited by scattering manure over the newly-made pas- ture land. DO PASTURES BECOME "SOD-BOUND" ? A common belief among farmers is that pastures fail to produce as well as they should sometimes after stand- ing for a term of years because they have become "sod- bound;" that is, too many plants are established to a square foot. Probably this is seldom, if ever, true. The pasture declines not because of over population but be- cause of the using up of its available plant food. To test the matter, take the worst bit of dense pasture sod you can find and feed it, either with manure or with nitrate of soda (at the rate of about y± pound to the square rod) and see if it does not at once immensely improve and grow perhaps four times as much forage as will grow on the adjoining land unfertilized. To plow that sod, kill- ing the grasses and letting their stems and roots decay in the soil, would also fill the land with nitrogen, but it would take years to restore as good a set of grass as was already there, needing only to be fed. HOW GRASSES GROW. A curious and distinguishing trait of grasses is their manner of growth. Most plants grow from the unfolding 22 MEADOWS AND PASTURES of terminal buds, and the continual formation of new buds at the tips or sides of branches. Grasses grow from the lower ends of their leaves or blades; thus, you may cut off the grass blades as often as you like and they will again be pushed up from below. This curious fact is of the greatest value, as it makes possible the pasturing of grasses with no injury to them. Clovers fed down close yield only a fraction of their normal growth, since they can not after being bitten off grow again till new buds are formed, while grasses bitten off will, if there is mois- ture and warmth and fertility under them, at once push up the bitten blades high enough to afford a second bite, and this they will do indefinitely. HOW GRASSES THICKEN. Grasses tend to increase by means of their spreading underground rootstocks. These rootstocks are not true roots, but are in reality underground stems. Some grass- es are very wonderful in their development of under- ground stems, providing very stout, stiff, powerful root- stocks armed with hard, sharp points able to penetrate almost anything. It is not unusual to see a root of quack grass penetrate entirely through a potato. A large num- ber of grasses have these creeping underground stems, Kentucky bluegrass, brome grass, redtop, and Bermuda grass being good examples. There are other grasses that tend always to remain in clumps, as the fescue grasses, timothy, orchard grass, and western bunch grass. Even these stooling grasses increase, but the new offshoots are always sent up close to the parent stem. This tendency of grasses to thicken themselves makes GRASSES FOR MEADOWS 23 it easy to get a good thick sod. One need not sow more seed after one gets a sprinkling of grass ; one needs only in some way to increase the fertility of the soil either by manuring or fertilizing or by sowing legumes, and in a 'short time nature will plant the grass plot so thickly that no room will be found for more plants. SOME GOOD GRASSES FOR MEADOW. Timothy. — More has been said for and against timothy grass than almost any other grass or forage crop. It 'ias been lauded as the best feed for horses: It has been de- nounced as the poorest forage coming from the meadow. It has been declared unfit for sheep or cows because of its deficiency in protein. It has been declared to be no better than straw in a ration for cattle or horses. Livery stable keepers refuse to buy any other hay for their hard- driven horses. Many men declare that horses will work better on timothy hay than on alfalfa or almost any other hay. The fact remains, after all has been said, that tim- othy is, and will long remain, the standard hay crop of America. There are several very good reasons for this fact. It is very easily established; the seed is cheap and easily sown. It comes soon and yields its best crop, very likely, the year after it is established. It is an easy grass to make into hay. It has fair palatability and horses once accustomed to it relish it. It is not very nourishing when cut as ripe as is common practice, and thus there is no bad result from feeding horses plenty of it; in truth, they will not ordinarily eat too much of it, as it is not suffi- ciently palatable? to tempt them. Contrasted with alfalfa, it has far less of nourishment in it, but alfalfa is often 24 MEADOWS AND PASTURES Timothy (Phleum pratense). WHEN TO CUT TIMOTHY 25 fed in too large amounts to horses and the excess of nu- triment fed them must be eliminated and that fact makes them sweat more and tire sooner than had they not been overfed. The plain truth is that timothy hay is safest for horses ordinarily because it is not much more than a filler, the animals getting nourishment from grain. When to Cut Timothy Hay. — Timothy hay is not a suitable forage for dairy cows, fattening animals, or sheep ; it is too woody and unnutritious for that unless it is cut early. Early-cut timothy hay is tender and digest- ible. As it ripens it becomes more and more woody. Prof. H. J. Waters, when Director of the Missouri Experiment Station, made some very valuable investigations as to the effect of harvesting timothy hay at various stages of de- velopment. Briefly, it was mown when in full head but not in bloom, when in full bloom, when the seeds were formed, when the seeds were in the dough and when the seeds were fully ripe and some of them shed. It was ex- pected that a large increase in yield of weight of hay would be found as ripening progressed. This did not prove to be true. The tests were carried through several years and varied in results considerably, yet usually nei- ther the first nor last cutting made the greatest weight of hay; sometimes it fell to that cut when in full bloom, sometimes to that with seed just formed and in one in- stance to the cutting made before bloom. Usually there was considerable shrinkage in the hay cut before bloom. The evidence, judged by weight alone, seems to point conclusively to cutting just when the seeds are formed. Cutting at that time also produces hay of the highest market quality. 26 MEADOWS AND PASTURES Digestibility and Time of Cutting. — There is another factor than yield to consider, especially if one is to feed, the hay to one's own animals ; that is, palatability and di- gestibility. Early-cut timothy is tender, well-flavored, easily masticated and digested. Animals like early-cut hay and eat it readily. Late-cut hay is tough, woody, hard to chew and hard to digest. If one succeeds in get- ting a great weight of hay cut with seed fully ripe one has little if any more than so much straw. A great deal of the protein that should be in the hay has gone into the seed, and animals can not digest timothy seed. The plants have developed a great deal of woody fiber and that has locked up much nourishment that otherwise would have been available. Green grasses are full of sap ; that sap is the best part of the grass. Everyone knows the good that follows put- ting animals out to graze tender, juicy grass. Grasses cut with the sap in them, dried and made into hay, will maintain animals nearly or quite as well as though they were grazing it green. My father knew that well, and by cutting his meadows early, he would . usually be through haying by the time his neighbors had begun. He often told me that early-cut grass would feed young cat- tle as well as ripe grass and grain. His practice proved his theory. He always wintered young steers on hay alone and they grew well and came through in good or- der, afterward grazing exceedingly well. It was not un- usual for him to cut timothy before it flowered; oftener he would cut it when in full bloom. He would always have red clover mixed through his timothy meadows so long as it would endure. WHEN TO CUT TIMOTHY 27 28 MEADOWS AND PASTURES The Missouri Experiments. — To test this thing, Prof. Waters at Columbia fed steers on timothy hay alone and gave them their choice of the several cuttings. These were put in the rack so that the steers would eat as they liked. In every instance, they began to eat the first-cut grass, taking next that cut second and refusing to eat any of the ripe cut hay till the earlier-cut was all consumed. The instincts of animals are very safe guides when mat- ters of nutrition are concerned. The investigations of Prof. Waters are so interesting and the results secured so valuable that I advise the reader to see THE BREEDER'S GAZETTE of June 9. 1909 and June 16. 1909. I quote his conclusions : "So far all the results have been in fa- vor of the earlier cuttings. The yields were larger, the hay was more completely digested, and was more pala- table to the stock. In the matter of convenience of har- vesting the balance tips heavily the other way. The greener the grain is cut the longer time it takes to cure, the more easily it is damaged by showers and heavy dews, and the more readily it will sunburn." The fact is, how- ever, if one is farming to feed one's animals one can well afford to face those obstacles in the hope of getting the larger nutrition from the land and of having the animals in better thrift and flesh. Time of Cutting and the Health of the Plants. — There is another side to this question — that of early or late har- vesting. Fortunately, Waters has also made this clear. It is the effect of the cutting at different times on the fu- ture yield. It has long been noted that in the drier parts of the timothy belt, the yield of subsequent crops was injured by early cutting. This is not visually true in the WHERE TIMOTHY PAYS 29 eastern and moister parts of the country. Prof. Waters points out that* timothy increases by multiplication of bulbs, somewhat as some sorts of onions increase. These bulbs store food for the future growth of the plants. As the timothy ripens nutriment is being stored in the new bulbs as well as in the seeds. If it is then cut too early the bulbs are weakened and the stand lessened. These bulbs also increase and store nourishment in the fall while the aftermath is growing; therefore it is a serious injury to a timothy meadow to pasture it in the fall. Timothy meadows should never be pastured unless the aftermath is unusually heavy due to a moist fall. It is not easy to thicken a timothy stand by sowing fresh seed. Nature's way is to thicken by increase of bulbs. Good feeding will do much to keep the stand dense. Except in the moister and cooler parts of the United States, one can not expect to make a permanency of a timothy meadow; it must occasionally be plowed and cultivated for a year or more and resown. Other grasses creep in to oust the timothy, the chief offenders being Kentucky and Canada bluegrasses and redtop. These grasses being much more firmly rooted than timothy, can not be got out without plowing the meadow. Where Timothy is Profitable. — Timothy may be grown as far south as central Mississippi if sown on rich alluvial soil ; it does not endure for a long time except in cooler, moister regions. Its natural home is along the northern edge of the cornbelt, northward far into Canada through- out New England, the high parks of the Rocky Moun- tains with irrigation, and the rainy side of the Pacific * The Breeder's Gazette. June 30, 1909. 30 MEADOWS AND PASTURES Coast states. In the central states timothy thrives for a few years, but tends steadily towards replacement with other grasses. Timothy responds to rich, moist soil, well filled with decaying vegetable matter. What to Sow. — Perhaps no other grass has been found that affiliates well with timothy, and any admixture will lower its grade in the market. On poor soils deficient in carbonate of lime, redtop thrives better than timothy and is sometimes sown with it, though redtop is an inferior grass. Clovers grow well with timothy and are an aid to it. Common red clover suits it best under ordinary conditions, though on moist land inclined to need lime alsike clover is more vigorous, and on dry, rich soils al- falfa and timothy thrive well together. Unfortunately the market objects to a large proportion of clover in tim- othy hay, though if it is nicely cured the hay is really very much enriched by the mixture. Red clover disap- pears after the second year quite completely and there is no doubt that the yield of timothy is materially increased by having had the clover as an associate. Timothy rap- idly uses up the nitrogen of the soil, and this the red clover accumulates. Alfalfa with Timothy. — Where one grows timothy for one's own use one can well afford to sow with it alfalfa, since the alfalfa will greatly enrich the timothy as hay and will also make it grow the more vigorously. To ac- complish the mixture, however, one must sow the two seeds together, either in August or in spring, or else es- tablish the alfalfa first and later sow the timothy. We may sow alfalfa alone in April or May or June, depend- ing on situation and the season best adapted to alfalfa SOWING TIMOTHY AND CLOVER 31 sowing; then in the fall, after the alfalfa has been har- vested, one can harrow in timothy seed with every hope of a stand. In the course of three years the timothy will rather get the upper hand of the alfalfa, unless the land is especially well adapted to alfalfa, yet that fact need not deter one from sowing them together, as when the alfalfa is gone the timothy will be more vigorous than if it had not been sown with it. Another method of sowing timothy and alfalfa together is to sow them very early in April on well-prepared land. In this case a seeding of a bushel to the acre of spring barley may be used, which will be cut for hay when in bloom or soon afterward. If the timothy should seem a little thin in the fall a bit more seed may be sown then. It is useless to sow alfalfa ex- cept on well-drained land that has in it plenty of carbon- ate of lime. It is true, however, that any land that is just right for alfalfa is right to make a maximum crop of timothy as well. The mixture of alfalfa and timothy comes far nearer being a balanced ration than either of the plants used alone. Method of Sowing Timothy and Clover. — Timothy is usually sown in the fall with wheat or other fall sown grain. Hardly any crop is easier established. Given a good seedbed and a fair degree of fertility and the tim- othy seed sown with wheat in September or October, one will secure a stand in nearly every instance. It is usual to sow with a grain drill having a separate grass-seeding compartment which scatters the seed in front of the drill, though some prefer to have it fall behind. It is largely a matter of how the weather behaves that determines which practice is best. 32 MEADOWS AND PASTURES Quantity of Seed. — The amount of seed used is from 4 to 20 pounds per acre. Very thick stands are less pro- ductive than normal stands. Probably a rational seeding for ordinary soils and seasons would be one peck or u pounds to the acre. The clover is added in the spring. There are several methods in vogue to get a catch of clover in wheat that has been sown to timothy. The usual method is to sow about 10 pounds to the acre of clover in March when the land has been honeycombed by frost, de- pending on the frost to cover the seed. Another and bet- ter plan, so far as the clover is concerned, is to wait till the land can be harrowed, say in April, and then to sow the seed and harrow sufficiently to cover it slightly. With care this can be done with no marked injury to the tim- othy and with marked benefit to the wheat. Mixtures Produce the Most Hay. — Very much more forage can be taken from land seeded to mixtures of grasses and clovers than when any one plant has exclusive possession of the soil. Thus timothy and clover produce more than would timothy alone, and if more than one species of clover is put in it will yield more than if red clover alone is the consort. Alsike clover may be added, a sprinkle of alfalfa, some mammoth red clover and some redtop. Orchard grass and brome grass ripen too early to be sown with timothy. Meadow fescue added in the spring will help somewhat. It is really astonishing the amount of herbage a mixed planting will yield, especially if the land is well enriched and has been deeply-plowed and well-prepared. The different species of plants have somewhat different food requirements and habits of feed- ing. The legumes can utilize the free nitrogen of the SOWING AND MANURING TIMOTHY 33 air; some root deeper than others and thus by growing them together the whole soil and space are best occupied. Sowing Timothy Alone. — It is not necessary nor al- ways desirable to sow timothy with a nurse-crop. In any region not subject to very dry falls it is good practice to sow timothy and clover together in late summer, say in late July or during August. Sown thus early the grass will make a full crop of hay the next year. This it will not do sown in the fall, as there will not be time for the fall seeding to grow a crop of the bulbs on which the rapid spring growth depends. Getting a stand in late summer is dependent on good treatment of the soil. It should be plowed some time before seeding, and carefully pulverized as fast as plowed. After each rain (not too immediately after) the land must be disked well and har- rowed to conserve moisture and yet more perfectly com- plete the pulverization. The seed must be sown when the soil is stored well with moisture beneath and in a com- pact, mellow condition. It must be lightly covered. Given these conditions, success is almost certain. Feeding Timothy Meadozvs. — Timothy is a crop rather exhaustive to the soil. This is especially true if it is grown in nearly a pure stand without clover. The "run- ning-out" of timothy meadows is more often the result of exhaustion of readily available plant food than of any other factor. It pays largely to feed timothy meadows and feed them well. Experience of older countries like England and Scotland is all in favor of feeding grass- lands, great profit resulting therefrom. Now that the manure spreader has come to nearly every stock-farm it affords an easy way to rejuvenate a timothy meadow. At 34 MEADOWS AND PASTURES any time after the hay is taken off, manure may be spread evenly over the meadow. Care should be taken to break up large masses so that the grass may not be smothered, and it should be spread so evenly that while all will be covered, yet the grasses will be seen peering through. If now this manure has been reinforced with something car- rying phosphorus, say with acid phosphate, using about 40 pounds to the ton of manure, or with "floats," (finely- ground phosphatic rock) using 100 pounds or more to the ton of manure, the fertilization will be quite complete and very effective. No fear need be felt that the manure will damage the next year's hay crop. The rains of fall and winter will have so decayed it that it will practically have melted into the soil before another year. Eight to 12 tons to the acre make a good fertilization, though much less will serve and give marked results in the suc- ceeding hay crop. I have taken more than 3 tons of tim- othy from an acre of land top-dressed with manure. The same land untreated would hardly have yielded one ton, and with hay worth $12 per ton it is plain that the 8 tons of manure applied brought return of $24 or $3 per ton. Furthermore, there was left considerable residual fertility in the soil which subsequent crops of hay and corn recov- ered. Where manure is not available timothy meadows are very responsive to artificial fertilization. 'Fertilisers on Timothy Meadows. — Quite a large num- ber of field experiments with fertilizers on timothy are recorded. The grass seems unusually responsive to good fertilization. Wheeler and Adams working at the Rhode Island Experiment Station reported* in 1902 experiments * Bulletin 82, Rhode Island Experiment Station. FERTILIZING MEADOWS 35 on meadows of mixed grasses, 1 5 pounds of timothy sown with 7 pounds of red clover and 7*^ pounds of redtop. Following are given the yields of field-cured hay ob- tained, per acre, upon each of the three plots in 1901 : Nitrogenous manures per acre. Pounds of hay per acre. First crop. Second crop. Total crop. Plot 17 none 3,050 5,150 8,750 240 400 640 3,290 5,550 9,390 Plot 19. with 133.52 pounds nitrate of soda Plot 21, with 400.56 pounds nitrate of soda*. . . . "Grass from like areas of each plot was harvested in the case of the first crop, and assorted for the purpose of ascertaining the relative amounts of redtop and timothy which were present. Follow- ing is the result of this examination: RELATIVE PERCENTAGES OF REDTOP AND TIMOTHY UPON THE THREE PLOTS. Timothy Redtop Plot 17. Without nitrogenous manures. Plot 19. With a Ys ration of nitrate of soda. Plot 21. With a full ration of nitrate of soda. 20 per cent. 80 per cent. 39 per cent. 61 per cent. 67 per cent. 33 per cent "It will be noted that with each increase in nitrate of soda the percentage of timothy showed a marked gain, just as was the case with the total yield of hay. The most plausible explanation which has suggested itself for this striking result, is the influence upon the growth of the crop brought about by the soda of the nitrate of soda, by virtue of its tendency to render the soil alkaline. It will be recalled that in other experiments at this station, it has been demonstrated that redtop is capable of thriving on soil too sour (acid) to be suited to timothy and Kentucky bluegrass. When nitrate of soda is applied to soils as a manure, plants re- *Four hundred pounds of nitrate of soda furnish about 62 pounds of nitrogen. 36 MEADOWS AND PASTURES move the nitric acid of the nitrate more rapidly than the soda, and in consequence, the latter, which is capable of overcoming or lessening the soil acidity, tends to accumulate in the soil." The plain lesson of this is to sweeten the soil with lime before making the meadow. Carbonate of lime (ground raw limestone) is the cheapest and best source of alkaline base for restoring the sweetness of the soil. It is interest- ing to see how, as the soil is fed, the inferior redtop re- cedes and the better grass predominates. On this espe- cial type of Rhode Island soil (rather markedly deficient in fertility) it was found well to use potassium, phos- phorus and nitrogen in the following proportions : 807 pounds of 1 6 per cent acid phosphate, 200 pounds of mu- riate of potash and 400 pounds of nitrate of soda. It is very noticeable that fertilization increased the density of the stand and excluded weeds. I again quote from Rhode Island bulletin 82 : "In 1900 the following numbers of grass stalks per square foot were found upon each of the three plots: Plot without nitrogen, 222. Plot with a one-third ration of nitrogen, 271. Plot with a full ration of nitrogen, 236. The greater quantity of nitrate of soda was an important factor in maintaining the stand of timothy probably on account of the soda left behind, by which the tendency of the soil to become acid (sour) was partly counteracted. The largest yield of field-cured hay in 1901 was 9,390 pounds, or 4.7 tons per acre, which was found to be equivalent to 7,549 pounds, or 3.8 tons, after lying in the mow until the following February. An allowance of 20 per cent to cover shrinkage in the barn was found to be excessive except in the case of the heaviest crop of the first cutting, in which case ,4.4 tons of field-cured hay were obtained per acre. The hay was, in every instance, sufficiently cured to keep in the best condition before being weighed and stored in the barn. The quantities of plant food removed by the crop were determined. It was found USING CHEMICAL MANURES 37 that if supplied with everything else that was necessary, the fol- lowing amounts of manurial ingredients were removed from the soil by 1,000 pounds of field-cured hay, free from clover: 5.6 to 5.8 pounds of nitrogen. 14.7 to 16.2 pounds of actual potash (K2O). 3.3 to 3.5 pounds of phosphoric acid (P2O6). "The early application of top-dressing is of vital importance in a dry season such as that of 1900, when, notwithstanding the severe drouth, 4.1 tons of field-cured hay were harvested per acre. At present the great drawback to profitable grass culture in New Eng- land is the neglect systematically to top-dress mowing lands and a general lack of knowledge of the relative quantities and absolute amounts of chemical manures to apply. If every one of the 78,824 acres of grass land in Rhode Island were treated in an intelligent and economical manner, the increased revenue to the state would be enormous. The facts presented ought to emphasize the impor- tance of chemical manures." In 1902 the experiment was continued, each plot re- ceiving phosphorus, potassium and two of them nitro- gen. Below are given the quantities of nitrate of soda applied per acre, and the amounts of actual nitrogen con- tained therein : Plot 17. Plot 19. Plot 21. Nitrate of soda Pounds. None. Pounds. 138-12 Pounds. 414 35 Nitrogen in the nitrate of soda None. 21.00 63.00 "The following are the amounts of field-cured hay harvested in 1902, upon each of the three plots: No. of Plot. Amount of nitrogen per acre. Pounds of hay per acre. Plot 17 Without nitrogen 2 950 Plot 19 Plot 21 With 21 pounds of nitrate nitrogen With 63 pounds of nitrate nitrogen 4,850 8,200 38 MEADOWS AND PASTURES "In 1901 a careful examination was made to determine the rela- tive percentages of the two chief grasses on each of the three plots. It was found on the plot without nitrogen that these per- centages for timothy and redtop were 20 and 80 respectively, upon the plot with one-third ration of nitrogen they were 39 and 61, and where the full ration of nitrogen was used they were 67 and 33. Similar though perhaps more marked differences were noticed this season. This is the fourth successive demonstration of the importance of nitrate of soda in maintaining a stand of timothy. An interesting and important finding from these ex- periments was that timothy grown on land well supplied with nitrogen was itself richer in that element. Nitro- gen is the element from which protein is largely com- posed and it is well known that feeds rich in nitrogen are most costly to purchase and best adapted to building body tissues in animals and to making milk. That this experi- ment in Rhode Island paid well the following financial results per acre in 1902 show : Plot 17. Without nitrogen. Plot 19. With a % ration of nitrogen. Plot 21. With a full ration of nitrogen. Tons of field-cured hay 1 475 2.425 4.100 Tons of barn-cured hay Value of crop based upon $16 per ton for barn-cured hay* 1.280 $20.48 2.042 $32.67 3.444 $55.10 Cost of the manures t 13.04 16.15 22-36 Difference $7.44 $16.52 $32.74 "Comparing the results upon plots 17 and 19, it will be seen that an extra outlay of $3.11 for nitrate of soda on plot 19 gave an *The actual price of hay has been considerably in excess of the value used in thxs estimate. tMuriate of potash valued at $42, acid phosphate at $15, and nitrate of soda at $45 per ton, respectively. These prices are above what most of the goods could certainly have been bought for early in the season. PASTURING TIMOTHY 39 additional net profit of $9.08. Comparing the data in the case of plots 17 and 21, it will be seen that an expenditure of $9.32 for nitrate of soda resulted in an additional net profit of $25.30 per acre. In order to show more clearly the increase in the profits from the use of liberal amounts of nitrate of soda, the value of the crop over that of the manures is given for the plot without nitrate of soda, for that with a one-third ration, and for that with a full ration of the nitrate. These data show the results secured for the entire period of four years already covered by the experiment, as follows : PLOT NO. 17, WITHOUT NITROGEN. Value of the crop over that of the manures* in 1899..$ 6.09 Value of the crop over that of the manures in 1900... 13.42 Value of the crop over that of the manures in 1901... 12.13 Value of the crop over that of the manures in 1902... 7.44 Total for the four years $39.08 PLOT NO. 19, WITH A ONE-THIRD RATION OF NITRATE OF SODA. (21 LBS. OF NITROGEN PER ACRE.) Value of the crop over that of the manuresf in 1899. . .$14.34 Value of the crop over that of the manures in 1900., Value of the crop over that of the manures in 1901. Value of the crop over that of the manures in 1902. Total for the four years $75.20 Pasturing Timothy. — Timothy is not well adapted to being pastured. Animals grazing it close soon destroy it. The bulbs must have chance to develop and store them- selves with nutriment for the following year, and pastur- ing would not allow this. It is injurious to a timothy meadow to pasture it after the hay has been cut. The one exception to this rule is, should there be danger of so much aftermath lying on the ground that it will en- danger smothering or harbor too large a number of field mice, it may be well to pasture lightly in the fall. There is a time in late spring when the weed commonly called *Potash and phosphoric acid. fPotash. phosphoric acid, and nitrogen. 40 MEADOWS AND PASTURES whitetop (Erigeronannuus) appears and threatens greatly to injure the market quality of the timothy hay. If sheep are put in for a time (before the timothy is jointed) they will eat out most of the whitetop and leave the meadow clean. Care must be taken not to let the sheep remain long enough to eat down the timothy, or the cure will be as bad as the disease, unless the season proves very moist and favoring. Sheep on timothy in winter will nearly destroy it by eating the bulbs, which are tender and nour- ishing. Mice in Timothy Meadows. — The common short-tailed meadow mouse is a great pest in timothy. It lives on the bulbs which are sweet and nutritious. I have found the underground burrows of these mice packed full of tim- othy bulbs. The remedy for mice is to have many cats about the farm, feeding them milk at the barns, to pro- tect sparrow and other small hawks, and to scatter poi- soned grain about in the meadows where their runs abound, doing this so far as possible in such manner as not to destroy innocent wild birds and domestic animals. Quail seldom if ever eat shelled corn which mice greedily devour. Do not Clip Timothy too Close. — Close-cutting of tim- othy meadows is most injurious to them. I have tested this thing well and have nearly destroyed meadows by very close cutting. At least two of the lower joints of the stem should be left if the future good of the meadow is considered. The Life of a Timothy Meadow. — There are soils so well suited naturally to timothy grass that meadows of it may endure thereon for many years. Ordinarily, in TIMOTHY LEADS TO PASTURE 41 the cornbelt region, timothy is more profitable the first and second years after sowing than it ever is afterward. Kentucky bluegrass runs into it wherever the soil is fairly rich in lime. Timothy declines in vigor, owing) no doubt usually to lack of feeding and to hard pasturing in the fall after hay has been cut. Doubtless with good feed- ing on suitable, moist, rich soil in cool climates timothy, can be kept for six or even 10 years, but for most farm- ers its profitable life will be found to be but two, three or four years; then it will need plowing and the land planted to some other crop allowing good clean cultiva- tion, with enriching, after which the timothy may be re- sown. Timothy as a Bridging Pasture. — While not a good grass for permanent pasture, except in mixture, timothy is one of the most useful crops that can be sown with other grasses where one wishes something on which ani- mals may feed while other and slower grasses are becom- ing established. Thus in making a bluegrass pasture, timothy may well be sown with bluegrass and will afford grazing for a year or two while the bluegrass is becom- ing established. SUMMARY. Timothy is perhaps the easiest established of cultivated grasses. It is the -standard hay grass. It is of rather low nutritive value compared with alfalfa or even when compared with other grasses, its protein content being quite low. It has, however, considerably more pro- tein in its composition when cut early. Probably the greatest feeding value is obtained by cutting timothy when 42 MEADOWS AND PASTURES / in bloom or very soon afterward. Clovers enrich timothy hay and add much to its thrift and yield. Alfalfa grows well with timothy on dry, rich soils having enough lime. Timothy rapidly exhausts the soil of nitrogen and tim- othy meadows are wonderfully helped by applications of stable manure or fertilizers. When fertilizers are used they should contain a considerable amount of nitrogen. Timothy is a short-lived pasture grass and for best re- sults as meadow should be very lightly pastured in the fall or left untouched. It is a good temporary pasture to afford feed while bluegrass is coming in. Redtop (Agrostis alba). — It is curious how plants find their best-suited environment ; each one has its place. The place for redtop is on soil rather moist, deficient in lime and somewhat deficient in fertility. Not that redtop will not thrive in rich soil, but it will endure a degree of soil poverty that timothy and Kentucky bluegrass will not endure. When one has a soil that is not quite rich enough nor dry enough for timothy one may hope to get a vig- orous growth of redtop. Indeed it will almost grow in the water. Redtop is a slender grass somewhat of the type of Kentucky bluegrass but taller-growing, with a creeping underground root-stock which makes it spread rather fast and soon form on suitable soil a dense sod. It grows 2' or more high and yields from i to 2 tons of hay per acre. It makes good pasture. It is not so soon established as timothy but increases in thickness for sev- eral years after sowing. Redtop is a variable grass, as- suming new characters in each different situation. In England it is declared to be of little growth. In New England it is considered a good hay and fine grazing. THE MERITS OF REDTOP 43 Redtop (Agrostis Vulgaris), 44 MEADOWS AND PASTURES Prof. J. B. Killibrew declares that in Tennessee "It will grow upon every soil and give more general satisfaction than any other grass. It is scattered over the whole state of Tennessee. The writer has seen it growing vigorously on the highest mountains of east Tennessee as well as in the deepest valleys, on the sandstone soil of the Cumber- land table land and on the cherty soils of the highland rim. It sparkles in the beauty of its verdure on the lime- stone soils of the central basin and acquires its largest growth in the sandy river and creek basins of west Ten- nessee. There is no place in Tennessee in which it does not prove a profitable grass to the farmers." Redtop will grow as far south as New Orleans and in north Louisiana is sometimes sown for pasture and hay; it will yield well on the moist bottoms throughout all the South. While it makes good grazing it is not so nu- tritious nor so well liked as bluegrass. It is, however, much more adaptable to soils and climates than bluegrass. It contains more protein than timothy. Animals com- monly prefer timothy and . farmers prefer it because it yields more. Redtop, they say, is a good grass when one is not ready to get a better one. It has the widest range of any grass in America, from the gulf to the northern limits of agriculture in Canada, from the Atlantic Sea- board (where because of lime shortage in the soil it is common) to the high meadows