Milch Cows and Dairy Farming / Comprising the Breeds, Breeding, and Management, in Health and Disease, of Dairy and Other Stock, the Selection of Milch Cows, with a Full Explanation of Guenon's Method; The Culture of Forage Plants, and the Production of Milk, Butter, and Cheese: Embodying the Most Recent Improvements, and Adapted to Farming in the United States and British Provinces. With a Treatise upon the Dairy Husbandry of Holland; To Which Is Added Horsfall's System of Dairy Management

by Charles Louis Flint

Meadow Foxtail

The Meadow Foxtail ([Fig. 58b]) is also an excellent pasture grass. It somewhat resembles Timothy, but is earlier, has a softer spike, and thrives on all soils except the dryest. Its growth is rapid, and it is greatly relished by stock of all kinds. Its stalk and leaves are too few and light for a field crop, and it shrinks too much in curing to be valuable for hay. It flourishes best in a rich, moist, and rather strong soil, sending up a luxuriant aftermath when cut or grazed off, which is much more valuable, both in quantity and nutritive value, than the first crop. In all lands designed for permanent pasture, therefore, it should form a considerable part of a mixture. It will endure almost any amount of forcing, by liquid manures, or irrigation. It requires three or four years, after sowing, to gain a firm footing in the soil. The seed is covered with the soft and woolly husks of the flower, and is consequently light; weighing but five pounds to the bushel, and containing seventy-six thousand seeds to the ounce.