Japanese m (Pa nice m Crus-gall ). Barnyard grass. (Fig. 526.) This grass has become somewhat important in parts of New England. It may be sown for soiling and silage purposes at any time from late spring to midsummer. When cut at the proper stage, it is greatly relished by cattle. It is very difficult to cure as a hay and is ordinarily used only for soiling or for silage.
Barnyard grass prefers a rich, moist soil. The seed is lighter than that of most of the millets. It may be broadcasted, but drilling is preferable. One to three pecks to the acre is sufficient when sown for hay. It is deserving of more attention than it has received, for it yields heavily. It produces a large amount of seed. [See Millet.] Meadow fescue (Festuea prate nsis). Fig. 554.
This grass has assumed importance in eastern Kansas, where it is known as English blue-grass.
It is sown in spring at the rate of about twelve pounds of good seed per acre. The first year it furnishes considerable pasture. Thereafter it is used for pasture, for seed production or for hay. Elsewhere in this country meadow fescue is seldom met with, being found occa sionally on the Pacific coast and rarely in other parts of the timothy region, especially along the southern border.
Tall oat- grass (Arrhenatherum elatius). Fig. 535. This is found occasionally in Ten nessee and on the northern Pacific coast, but is practically unknown elsewhere in this country. It requires about thirty pounds of seed per acre and the high price of the seed, usually twenty-five to thirty-five cents per pound, makes it almost prohibitive. It is a light yielder, ripens at the same time as orchard-grass, with which and red clover it may be sown. It makes a fair quality either of pasture or of hay, which, however, is not at first readily eaten by stock.
Crimson clover (Trifotium incarna tum.) Fig. 338. This winter annual has become established, in recent years, along the Atlantic seaboard, and is oc casionally met with in the middle South. On the north Atlantic coast, as far north as Freehold, New Jersey, it may be sown at any time from June to Octo ber first. Ten to twenty pounds of seed per acre are used, usually the smaller amount. It is frequently sown in corn
at the last cultivation; also after a crop of potatoes has been harvested. Its principal use is as a green-manure and cover-crop, but it is also valuable as winter pasture, a spring soiling crop, and, if cat before full bloom, as hay. If cut later, the barbed lobes of the calyx form "witch balls" in the stom achs of animals, sometimes in such quantity as to cause the death of cattle and horses. The crop is difficult to grow except in a few localities where farmers have learned its peculiarities and the soil has become inoculated with its appropriate bac terium. [See Clover.] AlfaYa. [See Pacific coast region, page 452.] Italian rye-grass (Latium multiflorum), Fig. 560, is the leading hay grass of England and the conti nent of Europe. It has never been popular in the United States except in mixtures for lawns, where its rapid, early growth soon gives a green coat to the soil, and as a hay and pasture grass in the Pacific Northwest. In the latter section it is very frequently found in meadows and pastures. Al though practically a biennial, it is very early, and the seed falls readily when mature, so that it reseeds itself freely. It is usually grown with clover in western Washington, and gives good yields of hay or silage. This grass is occasionally sown in the South, in which section it behaves as a winter annual. Most of the seed of this grass obtainable on our markets is the refuse of the European crop, and is very unreliable. If good seed could be had, fifteen or twenty pounds per acre would give a good stand. Of ordinary market seed, twice as much usually gives a poor stand.
Perennial rye-grass (Lolium perenne), Fig. 561, does not differ essentially in its culture from Italian rye-grass. It grows best on stiff, wet soils, doing very well in marshy situations, where it will persist for several years.
Sheep's fescue (Festuca mina). Fig. 555. This grass is not suited for hay, as it makes a too light growth, but it has value for pasture in the cooler and drier parts of the country. It does well on sandy soils. It may be seeded at the rate of three bushels per acre.