SEEDING TO FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 23 



In a dry climate weed seeds buried in the soil retain their vitality 

 longer. Mustards, Ragweeds and other annuals may be reduced by 

 seeding the land to meadow or pasture for a term of years, though it 

 is scarcely possible to prevent occasional plants from ripening a few 

 seeds each year. 



After seeding to grass and clover on reasonably clean land, an 

 early maturing nurse crop can usually be counted upon to check 

 weed growth and prevent the seeds from maturing before the crop 

 is harvested. The nurse crop should be ready to harvest or be cut 

 for fodder within three or at most three and a half months after 

 seeding. If weeds are not too prevalent when the nurse crop is 

 harvested, it is better for the seedling grass and clover to leave a 

 stubble four or five inches high. That will remove the seed stalks 

 of the taller and more vigorous weeds and will enable the still tender 

 fodder plants to gradually adapt themselves to altered conditions. 

 Autumn weeds may be largely prevented from seeding by cutting 

 with a mowing machine about a month after the nurse crop is har- 

 vested, and when Ragweed is prevalent this is especially important. 



In the development of a meadow it frequently happens, as 

 a result of unfavourable weather, irregular seeding, patches of too 

 wet or too hard and dry soil, or a heavy nurse crop perhaps lodging 

 in places, that the seedling plants suffer severely or are killed out 

 in small areas. As soon as the autumn rains commence, or, if the 

 soil is sufficiently moist, at any time after the summer heat is past, 

 it is well to re-seed such patches quite thickly. If necessary, apply 

 a thin dressing of rotted barnyard manure to cover the seed, to 

 retain moisture and to insure vigorous autumn growth. If the 

 killed out areas are large, it is sometimes advisable to use a sharp 

 harrow to make a good seed bed. If the late fall is favourable and 

 the re-seeded patches are well protected during the winter, they 

 should make a fair growth, even for the first cutting, and succeeding 

 crops will well repay the trouble and expense. 



In addition to the suppression of weeds, close cutting with a 

 mowing machine, not later than the third week in September, or 

 about a month after the nurse crop is harvested, stimulates the branch- 

 ing and stooling out of the clovers and grasses, thus insuring a thicker 

 stand and a more uniform growth the following spring. By removing 

 the nurse crop stubble and the autumn weed growth, a cleaner and 

 better quality of hay is secured from the first cutting. It is import- 

 ant, however, that this be done in plenty of time to insure a good 

 top growth for winter protection. The last cut of Alfalfa should be 



