The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-03-05

should be used to give bottom to the
turf 1t is an early maturing species,
coming after meadow foxtail and before
Kentucky blue grass. Cattle are very
J fond of it, and it aIls considerable
body to the early pasture, though later
in the season, when the stems become
tough and woody, it is not SO readily
eaten.
The fescues, especially sheep fescue
and yarious-leafed fescue, Festuca owl
ma and Festuca heterophylla, are ex-
cellent for sterile upland soils. The
sheep fescue has the reputation of
making a better growth on dry clay
hill tops than any other grass, except
perhaps the Canada blue grass (Poa
compressa). But l would not recon-
mend that either of these species be
| planted in lowland pastures, for while
/ both are very early, blossoming and
attaining their maturity before Ken
! lucky blue grass, there are other spe-
cies which make heavier, and posi-
bly, more palatable growth on such
lands.
The question is often asked us, what
| are the best grasses for shaded wood
lands, and we usually recommend the
various-leafed tescue for this purpose.
POa trivialis, the ough-stalked meadow
grass, and Poa memorials, the wood
meadow grass, are also good species
for woodland paintings. They make
a considerable bulk OF very fine forage,
and the latter species makes an excel
lent turf.
For hay meadows the best grasses
are timothy, Herds grass, red-top, Or
chard grass, hard fescue, tall fescue,
Italian rye-grass and Parental rye
grass. Of these. orchard grass, red
top, and the Italian rye grass are es-
pecially adapted to low wet meadows.
Orchard grass grows in tufts, and
makes a very uneven field, so that 9th
er grasses are usually planted with it,
although if a large amount of seed is
used and the sod be frequently rolled,
| it will make as fine and close a turf as
any other species Red-top and Herds
grass are the best to SOW with it.
On good calcareous loans or marls
or on moist loamy sands, where the
soil is in good condition, Italian rye
grass is probably the most productive
grass that can be used, and there are
few of the tame grasses that respond
so readily to the use of barnyard ma
nures. 1t develops very rapidly on
strong land, and a heavy crop may be
| obtained every four to six weeks dur
ing the summer. The first cutting
may be made within six weeks from
| the time the se,d is sown. Yields of
from four to six tons of hay per acre
are not unusual, and the hay is of finer
quality, more leafy, and is better
flesh former than timothy. Further
more, the seed is cheap. 1t may be
obtained in the New York markets at
about 10 cents per pound. The seed
| weighs from l6 to "a pounds to the
bushel, and the amount used varies
from 2 to 3 bushels per acre. 1t is
an early species, and on rich lands
withstands short periods ofdrouth; but
because it is such heavy feeder, it
does not do well upon hard, dry soils,
or upon stiff heavy clays which are es-
pecially susceptible to midsummer
| drouths.
The perennial rye grass, Lolium
perenne, enters very largely into the
composition of English meadow hay,
but it has not proven so successful in
this country, and is not so highly es
teemed here as in he Old World. 1t
requires much the same class of soils
as the Italian rye grass, but the yield
is lighter with us, and it can not 'be
cut so many times during the season.
On heavily manured clay soils, hard
tescue and tall fescue do very WELL
The hard fescue has the record of
yielding $4,000 pounds of green hay
during one season, equal to about six
tons of dry hay: but such yields are
rarely obtained.
The tall meadow and reed fescues
are vigorous-growing grasses, from 2
to feet high, very hardy, proba
blv better suited to New York and
New England than to this section of
MARYLAND. On moist meadows which
are rich in humus, they make nearly
as heavy and strong growth as hard
fescue, and may be depended upon to
produce , to , tons of hay per acre.
Timothy, PIeum pratence, lis regard
ed throughout the eastern United
States Us the standard of comparison
for all other grasses grown for hay.
| 1t succeeds best on moist loans or
moist clays, and responds very readily
to the use of fertilizer, especially Of
barnyard manures, and such green
manures as add large quantities of hu-
mus to the soil. In very dry ground
or on sandy soils, the yield is apt to
be light. Much of the popularity of
this hay is due to the fact that it cures
quickly and makes bright, fine ap-
pearing hay, though there are many
others grasses which are more nutri-