336 EXPERIMENT ST ATIQN— BULLETINS. 



In the land itself there is little capital invested, but it is very easy to 

 spend a good deal of work with team and men, which, added to the first cost 

 of land, should, to be profitable, sooner or later all give ample returns for 

 the investment. 



I am experimenting on two plans for getting rid of the oak grubs, one by 

 taking them out, root and branch ; the other by thoroughly chopping down 

 clear to the grub itself, all the sprouts, late in July or early in August. 



I have so far done most of the breaking in spring, but I am inclined to 

 think that a better plan is to plow shallow in July or August, and "back- 

 set" it a little deeper in the following spring for seeding. As a rule, a 

 shrub or tree is most easily killed by disturbing it or injuring it while it is 

 in the midst of a summer's growth. If plowed late in autumn or early in 

 spring, the buds, rootstocks and roots contain much starch stored up ready 

 to push new sprouts on the approach of warm weather. 



The land is light and should be rolled. Probably no outlay will pay better 

 than rolling the land in connection with seeding. It presses the particles 

 of soil closer together and brings them closely in contact with the seed. It 

 is one of the peculiarities of these sands, that they do not readily retain 

 moisture ; packing the land aids it in retaining moisture. 



The ordinary spring-toothed harrow so much used is in my opinion one 

 of the poorest and most unsatisfactory implements that can be used on these 

 sandy lands, especially when new, before the tough roots have decayed. 

 They pull the roots out, disturbing the furrows, requiring considerable labor 

 to get rid of them. 



The roots are an advantage to the soil when decayed. If a light slanting- 

 toothed harrow is used the roots will be little disturbed and the surface will 

 be made ready for fine seeds. Give some attention to cutting out the roots 

 of large wild perennials, which the plowing did not kill. 



I would not start on this new land with a crop of millet or Hungarian 

 grass. They are exhaustive crops and too easily damaged by frost. Neither 

 would I try potatoes, buckwheat, oats, wheat or corn. If rye is used I 

 should mow it often enough to prevent its seeding, or perhaps plow under 

 when full grown. 



So far as I can learn, a mixture of three or more kinds of grasses and 

 clovers occupy the soil more completely and give a better yield than any one 

 kind. The best of these, in my opinion, are mammoth clover, alsike clover, 

 tall oat grass, orchard grass, tall fescue, Agropyrum tenerum (a wild grass 

 from the west), and Timothy; the last perhaps the poorest of all for these 

 sands. From my experience it will take three or four years to secure a good 

 covering of the sands by June grass or meadow foxtail. Red clover is likely 

 to die at the close of the second year, and make it necessary to plow or 

 harrow or in some other way to reseed. 



To seed down a new piece of such land, as it is light- and the season short, 

 is a slow and rather expensive process. If the seeds of grasses and clovers 

 are started with those of rye, oats or wheat, the catch is likely to be a poor 

 one, and even when sown without another crop, they make only a small 

 growth the first short season. I prefer perennial grasses and clovers to those 

 which are likely to perish in one or two years. 



As the process of seeding down is often only partially successful on the 

 first year, if the plants are perennial, we can add more seed here and there 

 and roll the land, thus patching up the thin or vacant spots. Again, the 



