RESULTS FROM GRAIN CROPS. 193 
weather is apt to be unfavorable for curing. The best uses 
are therefore as a grain, or for pasture. Needless to say, one 
cannot pasture rye in the fall and spring and then expect a 
grain crop of any size from the same piece. The further 
south the locality the later may rye be sown, and the earlier 
it will be ready for pasture or ripe. 
Flax has been raised successfully, but prefers a heavy soil 
or new land. The chief objection to raising flax is the diffi- 
culty of marketing it in less than carload lots. 
Buckwheat, if sown about June 1st ripens and produces 
a fair crop. 
Beans if planted on a warm soil about May 20th, and 
well cultivated, will usually get ripe if early varieties are 
used. 
Grasses and Clover.—Grass is the most important crop 
of this section, both from a financial standpoint and from 
that of proper farm management. Stock raising is largely 
dependent onit, and the utilization of wild land and processes 
of clearing are closely concerned with the uses that can be 
made of grass. Natural meadows are found along water 
courses and to some extent about lakes and sloughs. Oc- 
casionally they are of greatextentand very valuable furnish- 
ing a source of hay which makes the raising and wintering 
of considerable stock possiblealmost at once. On the whole 
such supplies will tend rather to diminish than increase as 
the landis opened and drained and thesurface water dries up. 
The second source of supply is sought by pasturing, and 
seeding down for this purpose, upland which may or may 
not have been cleared and brushed. This brings into use the 
tame grasses. The success obtained in securing a catch, and 
a crop of grass, on such wild land, will depend upon the kind 
sown, the character of the soil, the amount of brush and sod, 
the preparation of the soil and the time of yearsown. It 
is evident, that no general rules can be laid down nor 
can definite results be depended on. Merely scattering 
the seed will not always pay, though it requires the least 
expense. The nearest approach to success by this method 
is obtained on clay or heavy soils which have recent- 
ly been heavily burned, killing most of the underbrush and 
leaving acoat of ashes on the surface. Thick underbrush 
