Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1875-04-29
Grasses best adapted to Ohio.

1rdSSeS DcSt dudptcu 10 OuIOs
Paper read before the Forest Grange. South
Charleston. Ohio, by James +. Pugley.1
Red clover, think, is best .sown in
March with wheat. If sOwn earlier,
there is danger of the young and tender
plant being killed by frost. 1t does
we'll sown in April, with oats, when
the spring is not unusually dry.
Red clover is valuable for the aLund
ance of pasture it produces, for its ex-
cellence as pasture for .cows-produc-
ing large flow of rich milk Asa pas
TUE for hogs, it is almost, if not quite,
equal to corn as a summer feed. When
properly cured it makes superior hay,
especially for COWS and sheep. Clover
should be cut for hay when about one
half of the heads have gone out of bios
som and commenced to turn dark. AS
soon as cured and before it becomes so
dry that its leaves will crumble, il
should be put in the barn or in stack
The stacks should be topped out with
some other kind of grass, as clover ad-
Dits the rain into the stack, instead of
conducting it down the surface. The
value of clover as a fertilizer is admit
ted by every intelligent farmer, the fer
tilizing properties being mostly in the
roots. Red clover is also profitable for
its seed, as an article of merchandise.
Red top is valuable grass on rich
and moderately moist soils, and al
though | do not regard it as being az
sweet and nutritious feed as some other
kinds of grass, yet on some soils it sue
ceeds where no other grass will, and
yields an abundant crop of pasture or
hay. think the most servicable place
for red-top is when mixad with Ken
lucky blue grass; for the red top re-
mains green after the blue grass ripens
and becomes dry, and until the second
growth of the blue grass comes on. The
seed of this grass should be s0wn dur
ing the month of March, at the rate of
about ten pounds to the acre. The seed
being very light, great care is necessary
in sowing in order to get it evenly on
the ground. Though classed by writ
ers with cultivated grasses, on much OF
the land in this and adjoining counties
red top comes into the fields spOntan-
eously, mixing with the blue grass and
whith clover, and thus a pasture is
formed that is unequaled.
Orchard grass thrives we'll in or.
chards, in woodlands, and in open and
clear land where the soil is deep, rich
and dry. Where this grass is grown,
it is regarded with much favor for both
hay any pasture when the fall growth
has been left on the ground. 1t has
been named orchard grass because il
has the quality of making a thrifty
growth in the shade. The seed at the
rate of fourteen pounds per acre is sown
with grain in the spring, may be sown
with wheat in March. On v oodlands
eleven pounds to the acre will do.
One writer says of orchard grass
Gas it is less turf binding than Ken.
lucky blue grass, it is better suited for
orchards. That it is ready for stock
some ten days earlier in spring than
any other, and that on being ted off il
readily re-establishes itself by new
growths. and endures the summer
drouths."
Kentucky blue grass I think is not
excelied, and my experience with il
has been such that am unwilling to
Ocncede that it is equaled by any other
as pasture grass. 1t comes earlier,
grows in colder weather, is very sweet
and nutritious-stock being very fond
OF it-produces sabundantly, and is best
adapted for winter pasture, remaining
green the entire winter.
An eminent cattle breeder speaking
OF this grass, says: "Whoever has blue
grass has the basis of all agricultural
prosperity, and that man, if he has not
the finest horses, cattle and sheep, has
no one to blame but himself"
1t grows spontaneously on almost ev.
cry kind of soil that has fertility
enough to produce timothy. Although
named Kentucky blue grass, JOHN H.
Klippart says: "There are lust as good
and just as luxuriant blue grass pastures
in Clinton, Fayette, Pickawao, Greene,
Ross, Warren, Clarke, Madison, Cham.
paign, Union and Franklin counties,
as3there are in Kentucky" And from
personal knowledge 1 will add High
land county to Mr.. KIippart's list.
In examining the blue grass pastures
in Kentucky, found no other kind OF
grass mixed with it, while in the blue
grass pastures in Ohio, we fird white
clover or red top, and frequently both,
which mixed adds to the value of the
pasture by increasing its productive
ness, making variety of feed, and as
the different varieties ripen at different
times during the summer, there is con-
stantiy green and fresh pasture for the
stock to feed upon, the consequence of
which is, it comes out fatter and Is in
better condition for market or for win
Ter than if confined exclusively to one
kind.
DO not use martingaIes on working