GRASSES OF MAINE. 9 



of the case may not represent a precise condition of things, 

 but it does present a truism worthy of thought. 



To impress this point, which has a deal to do with success 

 in grass growing, let me illustrate by a diagram which is 

 made to represent a square foot of land, having a maximum 

 capacity for twenty-five grass plants to five species of five 

 each of herds-grass, red-top, blue grass, orchard grass and 

 clover. With herds-grass alone it will grow only five seeds, 

 or germinate the seed in five spaces, leaving twenty unoccu- 

 pied interspaces, or four-fifths of the land in waste, or for 

 weeds to cover. Adding clover, the land having a maximum 

 for five seeds, and there are fifteen interspaces, or three-fifths 

 of the soil unoccupied. If we add five seeds of blue grass, then 

 three-fifths of the land is growing grass, and two-fifths — a 

 generous slice — is left for weeds. Adding five seeds of red- 

 top and five waste spaces remain, a waste which no farmer 

 can afford. With five of orchard grass, the land is filled to 

 its maximum, and no weeds do bidden come. 



Every soil has a bearing capacity for many more varieties 

 than most farmers are wont to suppose, and no one can reach 

 the acme of success in grass culture, until he knows what 

 that number is. 



Nature abhors a vacuum, and in her abhorrence of " bare 

 spots " in a grass field, she covers the nakedness with weeds. 

 Where she gets her weed seeds is a mystery. Some of them 

 may have lain dormant in the earth for years, only waiting 

 for just such favorable circumstances as we have been stating. 

 Some are brought by the winds and the birds and deposited 

 in inviting vacant places. Seeds left within the Arctic circle 

 by an exploring expedition, years after, brought to England, 

 germinated. They retain vitality at a temperature below 37° F. 



Nine varieties at least, nine being the minimum, are re- 

 quired to fully seed the land, that no unoccupied interspaces 

 remain as a standing allegory of want. The " throwing out " 

 of clover roots in the Spring, tells of an obstinate clinging to 

 an old custom, an hereditary jjractice, for which we neither 

 give, nor can give any rational reason. Nobody means to 



