Vermont Agriculttjral Report. 73 



The chief drawbacks to seeding- with a nurse crop are, first, 

 in cases where the grain is heavy and lodges, the grass is often 

 killed, and second, the young tender grasses are sometimes killed 

 by drouth soon after the grain is cut. This killing by drouth 

 most frequently happens in cases where the seeding is done with 

 oats in the spring. Oats make a denser growth than rye or 

 wheat, and the period for their growth being short the grasses 

 sown on the same field are often very silender and weak and are 

 readily damaged by drouth after the oats are cut. On quite 

 moist, heavy clay soils however, spring seeding with oats is 

 often the best method. When seeding with rye or wheat in 

 northern New England, it is well to omit the clovers from the 

 mixture and to sow these in the early spring before the ground 

 becomes dried out, or they may be sown on a light, late snow. 



During quite a period of years the writer has practiced the 

 method of seeding with grasses and clovers alone, without a 

 nurse crop. The best results have been obtained when the seed- 

 ing was done in August. The advantages found in this method 

 and time of seeding are, (i) It gives the crop full occupancy of 

 the soil. (2) If the seeding is done early, it allows the crop 

 to become firmly established before winter. (3) It is almost sure 

 to provide a good crop the first season after seeding. In Ver- 

 mont the seeding should be done about the middle of August and, 

 for the best results the soil needs to be well manured after plow- 

 ing, and the seed bed thoroughly prepared before sowing the 

 seed. It is very important that the soil should have a heavy 

 covering and the plants become well rooted before the ground 

 freezes, and early seeding and heavy manuring will provide for 

 this. Failures to get a good stand of grass are quite common 

 where the seeding is done with a grain crop and light crops of 

 grass may follow for a year or two, but by seeding early with 

 grains and clovers alone and using 15 to 20 loads of manure to 

 the acre, after plowing, a fine covering will be provided before 

 winter. 



It is a common error in seeding grass lands to sow too many 

 kinds on the same field. Many commercial mixtures seem to be 

 made up with the thought in view that if one kind fails enough 

 will prove good to provide for a fair crop. It is not uncommon 

 to find commercial grass mixtures containing species which vary 

 as much as six weeks in time of blossoming. In growing mixtures 

 of this kind some of the grasses will be tough and woody before 

 other kinds are fully grown. Orchard grass or Kentucky blue- 

 grass, for example, should not be sown with timothy or red-top. 

 If early maturing hay is wanted it is better to sow orchard grass 

 or Kentucky blue-grass each separately, or, in a mixture of the 

 two. On moist soils the tall meadow fescue grown alone or with 



