IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS CROP. ' 293 



We don't want to be obliged to drive across a forty acre lot to get a 

 load of hay, nor do we want to see a large part of our fields lookino- 

 brown and bare till near haj'ing time. 



Worn out fields should not be top-dressed. Some farmers have 

 made their first attempt at top-dressing on such land, and of course 

 faik'd. The cause of the poor condition of the crop is not altogether 

 lack of plant food in the soil, but the grass roots have become weak 

 and exhausted by old age, and as we can not renew old age, only 

 stimulate it to a certain extent, it is better to plough and re-seed. 

 But it will pay to top dress grass land which is in fair condition — 

 in October or about the time of the fall rains — with green manure or 

 any substance which will fertilize ; and it should be well pulverized 

 before freezing weather to give the best results. This, if well done, 

 will produce a heavy growth of well mixed grass of an improved 

 quality. Top-dressing should not be applied in summer, as it dries 

 so hard that it never can be made so fine as it should be, and is 

 therefore partially unavailable. Nor should it be applied while the 

 ground is frozen, for rains will leach and wash a large part of it , 

 into places where it will do no good. 



The cheapest and most rapid method of renovating worn out land 

 is to plough to the depth of five inches, completely inverting the sod, 

 and applying a dressing of manure and thoroughly working it into, 

 and mixing it with, the surface soil. This work may all be done in 

 the early fall, and grass sowed without losing a grass crop, or it may 

 be plowed in the spring and sowed to grass, or grain and grass, 

 thus omitting but one grass crop, and getting a crop of grain 

 instead. There need be no fear of ploughing too much worn out 

 land which is paying nothing, for it will be an improA'^ement even 

 without dressing, but if a moderate quantity of manure be applied 

 with thorough pulverization of the soil, which is an important factor 

 in all tillage — there will be a great improvement which will give the 

 farmer additional means for the next year. This makes a seed-bed, 

 easily and cheaply prepared, which will produce good crops. In 

 connection with the manure applied is the decaying sod which the 

 roots penetrate and feed upon, and it also absorbs and retains a 

 large amount of moisture which is a protection from drouth. It 

 ma^' be put down as a truism that a rich surface insures a crop. 



For surface manuring, a large quantity of dressing may be coU 

 lected which would be thought unsuitable for planting purposes. 

 13 



