ORCHARD GRASS. - 47 



soon as the weather is favorable the grass may be sown with a broad- 

 cast seeder at the ordinary rate, and the oround being uneven at this 

 time the freezing and thawing which follow will cover the seed suffi- 

 ciently. Disking seems to give much better results than plowing, 

 since the ground if plowed will not have time to thoroughly settle 

 before the time of seeding. Rolling would doubtless be beneticial 

 after seeding in this manner. 



In western Virginia and in Tennessee orchard grass is commonly 

 sown the latter part of September or the first of October with wheat 

 oil the ground at the rate of a bushel and a half to two bushels to the 

 acre, the wheat being di-illed in at the rate of three to five pecks to the 

 acre and the grass sown either broadcast b}' hand, with a broadcast 

 seeder, or an attachment to the drill, and covered as shallow as possible. 



Orchard grass is often sown with oats, usually in March, on ground 

 that has been previously in wheat und which has been plowed the pre- 

 ceding autumn. A half seeding of oats is usually sown in this case, 

 and gives as a result only a fair crop. The grass, however, makes 

 more pasture the first season as a rule than when sown with a full 

 seeding of either wheat or oats. Early fall seeding with winter oats 

 in sections where the latter can be grown may l)e depended upon to 

 give good results, but on account of the Hessian fly it is not possible 

 to sow it with wheat much before October. 



A crop of hay is not expected the first season, whether the grass is 

 sown in the fall or spring, either alone or with a nurse crop. If sown 

 alone a light cutting may be secured, provided the conditions are 

 favorable, in the latter part of August or September; ])ut in general 

 the grass is pastured and not cut except at the time when the grain 

 which is sown with it is harvested. The following season it makes a 

 croj) of either hay or seed, as is desired. There may be some advan- 

 tage in sowing the grass alone for the extra quantity of forage pro- 

 duced the first year, but whether this and any other advantages that 

 may come from seeding in this way will compensate for the profit 

 accruing from the nurse crop is an undecided question. 



MIXTURES WITH RED CLOVER, 



Throughout almost the entire region where orchard grass is grown 

 it is quite a common practice to sow red clover with it. This practice 

 is a good one, not onl}' for the value of the red clover in maintaining 

 the soil fertility, but also for the fact that its presence greatly improves 

 the orchard grass either for hay or pasture. In the seed-producing 

 sections red clovei is a menace to the seed crop, especial!}^ the first and 

 second years. As it is impossible to cut the orchard grass above the 

 clover, the leaves and heads get mixed in with the seed and are difficult 

 to separate from it. Although the presence of the leaves in the 



100— VI 



