Show ESSENTIAL IAL THAT CROPS FIT SOIL led clover and timothy should not be depended on entirely for maximum crops FAVORS MOIST growa 19 40 jo perennial hay plants will produce well on an poor sandy soll soil most grass seeds are small and require good seedbed prepared by the united states dep department t of 0 agriculture while timothy and red clover undoubtedly lire are the best hay crops on rood good soils in the northeastern quarter bf the united states they should by oo no means be depended on oa to produce maximum ma yields of soils other hay bay crops are better suited and are more dependable in some cases and under particular soil conditions alsike alseike clover for example is better adopted adapted to sour and moist soils than common red clover and the two mixed together and seeded on some uplands often insures a crop where the latter seeded alone would fall redtop is the best wetland grass and on such land a mixture of redtop red top meadow fescue and alside alsike clover usually gives elves good returns while no hay grasses can be depended upon to make a commercial crop on poor land redtop orchard grass anil and tall oats grass are better than any others these are facts discussed in detail in farmers bulletin no 1170 meadows tor for the northern corthern Kor thern states just issued and ready for distribution by the united states department of agriculture has bulk of tame hay acreage in ill that section of the united states north of and including tennessee and east cast of central nebraska kansas and the dakotas Is found 83 per cent of the tame hay acreage of the nation eighty eight per cent of this acreage Is seeded to timothy and clover while these two plants undoubtedly will continue to hold bold the popularity they now possess there are a number of 0 other plants which though not so well known are more desirable for particular purposes and for certain conditions of soll soil and climate the latter are given special attention in the bulletin orn 71 1 xv YA at A Q IV cp 1 field of bur clover there is ittle difference of opinion its BS to the plants to be seeded on rich wed drained land timothy Is seeded clone alone if the hay Is to be sold on the garmt nar ht and timothy and clover often mixed with wilb redtop where part or all of f the hay Is utilized on the farm some of the advantages of these plants are that they have good seed habits especially timothy and re redtop altop red ked Is a deep rooted legume and has a beneficial effect on succeeding crops crop L timothy Is consla considered ered by feeders the best hay tor for horses and clover or elover and timothy mixed produce better yields and are excellent tor for cattle cattie attle attie and sheep the comparatively long period during which these plants may lie e aft left standing without serious deterioration teri oration before cutting together with the tact fact that the time of their maturity interferes little with thi the e harvesting of the cereals and other farm work have much to do with their pop ular ltv the most serious objection to the red clover and timothy mixture is due to the difference in time of their maturity the former usually being ready to cut two weeks before the latter vor for this reason mammoth clover a variety of the common red which is somewhat later in maturing is sometimes substituted tor for red clover in the seed mixture there are many soils along the border of the area under discussion is which will give it a larger liay hay yield it if deeded eded to orchard grass tall oats grass and allibe alkih clover than if eded to timothy redtop and red clover these soils are usually poor in organic matter mattei and are Inell inclined ned to b be sour it Is important that tills mixture be cut when ben the planta plant 4 first head out for lf if N harvesting ar vesting la Is delayed they will make a tough less palatable liny tills I 1 Is true of orchard grass if cut early however this hay will be relished by all classes of live lice stock for general use in the localities referred to the bulletin recommends the following mixture orchard grass 14 pounds tall 0 acts ts grasa 12 pounds alside alsike clover C G pounds per acre gives best beat results Ital ahny on poor land Is not sat is factory but when it Is 13 necessary this mixture gives best results in some places in the middle west sweet clover has given good results under unpromising soil conditions according to the bulletin no perennial hay plants will produce well on oil poor sandy soll soil under such soll soil conditions however sonic some temporary crop such as ryo or oats find peas and alan along the atlantic coast early sorghum alii cowpe cowpeas cow peas nr ar e prefeTa preferable bie to peren perennial hial liay hay crops the best temporary liay hay plants ore are the small grains iee seeded cled either alone or in mixture with some legume such as peas etch or fir crini crimson sou clover MII let tire sometimes aed ed for tills this purpose ns its tire lire sudan grass and coarse forage such as corn and d sorghum in the alic northern states a combination of oats and canada field peas makes a very good hay bay crop excellent results have been obtained in eastern maryland and virginia with the fol following lowin mixture oats 1 bushel halry hairy vetch 30 pounds pound su w liate blooming crimson el clover 10 pounds per abw acre in order to avoid losing tile the use ol of land for an entire season and to permit late summer and early fall seeding needing grass crops usually follow small grains the seedbed hould be prepared as soon as possible after the grain Is harvested As a three inch mellow seedbed with firm soil benceth will give better results tor for summer seeding than one that is deeper the disk harrow Is usually used in place of the pow plow for preparing land for grass most grass gras seeds are very small and must have a fine mellow well pulverized surface soil in order that the seedling may become established A good seedbed may mean the difference between the success and nd failure of the hay cop use too little seed most farmers use too little grass 1 seed for best results according to the bulletin rich land with a well ell pre pared seedbed does not require as much much seed as thin land or land poorly fitted from 20 to SO 30 pounds of seed per acre are generally sufficient and this rate Is usually more profitable than lighter of mixtures small seeded grasses such as redtop red top arid and timothy do da not require so heavy a seeding as orchard grass or ne grass usually 10 pounds of timothy or 6 pounds of redtop are sufficient when these are seeded alone in order that the seed may get a good start it la Is frequently advisable to apply some readily available fertilizer ti formerly the grain crop received the fertilizer but experiments have demonstrated that when it Is applied to the grass it will not only increase the yield of this crop but frequently show beneficial effects on succeeding crops for two or three years top dressings of suitable manure will increase the yield of hay and there Is probably no better crop than grass on which abich to valy it A great deal of grass and clover seed Is wasted every year from seeding on sour or reid acid soils applications of lime correct this condition and should be made particularly abe when legumes are to be grown |