Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1871-03-17
Grasses,

At the Davidson Farmers Club, last
month, the subject Of grasses was under
discussion.
Gen. w. G. Harding thought timothy
at the head of all grasses, especially for
purposes Of shipping a. baled hay. He
had cultivated many kinds, but considered
timothy the best. It was introduced into
Tennessee before blue grass, and he con-
sidered the latter the great enemy Of timo-
thy meadows, getting into them in five or
six years, enoroaching upon the first grass
and eventually roofing It out In buying
his timothy he looked more carefully 70
see that it was free from blue grass seed.
He would rather have dock or almost any
other weed than blue grass, which was the
most pernicioug of anything. He once
had meadows which lasted for twenty or
thirty years, but with the blue grass and
the changes in the climate, success was
not as great as formerly. In former years
he experienced little difficulty in getting a
good stand Of grass, whether he sowsd IN
the fall or winter, OF in the spring. Now,
the severe winter weather and the spring
droughts often operated against the farmer.
he thought also that more seed was necess
sary now than formerly. He had good
stands Of grass from ons gallon of seed,
but now he would recommend two gallons
or peck to the acre.
II WE Desb W WV Bl0Llky Oh EGoQs
he would not recommend the throwing
away OF white blossom which might Be
found in the timothy. He had besn In
the habit Of gathering it by itself stacking
1t and allowing the idle stock TO run to 1t.
he had brought through the winter large
number Of steers with nothing but ttlls
vhits blossom, straw, rsg-top and the like.
Which wae worth nothing At all II the
market. Timothy was valnabls IS coming
fnS1x Il
II 10 could 30 cut st tbs right time, II would
make the beat hay. Sons said tit IN the
blossom, and others Just after hlossoming,
others whsn II began TO grow brown. He
would say cut it juet after 1t had Lost the
NEST Of its blossoms. He thought when Il
had dried ar16 the tube shriveIlsd, It was
not as good as when cut little later.
How much time should 1t havs7 That
depended on the circumstances Of ripeness
of grass and dryness of the weather The
proper time TO put 1t up was when 1t had
received Just enough sun to prevent II from
moulding. It could be put up In cocks, and
20 through partial curing before being
hnalIy stored. In catching weather, how
ever, he preferred to give il more sun, and
put it directly into the stack. In good
weather It was best to put the grass in
cocks, as IL would be better. He thought
timothy paid best grown alone, but he
would prefer, for his own stock, timothy
combined with clover.
The hay tedder was very good machine
for the former. He ran the te9der behind
the mower, say two or three hours, and
then the rake two hours behind the ted
der. He often put timothy in cocks the
same day it was cut. He thought they
could make better hay by putting the grass
in cocks the same day, and then opened
and dried the next day. He cleared
something every year, and he thought
the perfecting of agriculture was one of
the most difficult pursuits IN the world.
be frequently sowed timothy with oats,
and thus saved q crop. He was surer of
getting good stand of grass when il was
sown with oats. He often had good sue
cess when he sowed in the fallwith wheat
ana barley. Timothy made good pas
red top and timothy. Where clover and
timothy were sown together, the clover
was the heavier crop the first wear, and
should rule in regard to time of cutting.
The best blue grass land was, in his opin-
ion, the best timothy land. He would
prefer strong limestone soil for either.
Clover thrives best in rich poplar land,
and seemed TO require soil like that best
Tor wheat. Beech land was generally
sandy and not adapted to grass, Close clay
and was best adapted TO timothy or blue
grass. 1t required land for grass that
would water well.
Inere was belt of land, say four or five
miles wide, just beyond the rocky ridges
surrounding the city, reaching from the
Cumberland to Mill Greek, which was as
good blue grass land as he know of. He
considered leeched ashes the best manure,
and had experienced but little benefit
from plaster. Stable manure was good,
but in using 1t you generally introduced
blue grass.
There was one weed which he would
Warn farmers against-a species of wild
tansy or yarrow. 1t was a most ungoy-
ernable weed. &
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