336 PUTTING IN THE SEED. 



sumption. By plowing this field just before freezing up you^ 

 will have the land in the finest condition for a spring crop. 

 This plan not only kills thistles but ox-eye daisies and other 

 weeds. It is much better than a summer-fallow, and without 

 the loss of any crop." 



Putting ill the Seed. — Too little care is exercised in select- 

 ing the seed, as most of it contains more or less seeds of per- 

 nicious weeds, and especially does this caution become more and 

 more necessary as the country becomes older. The troublesome 

 weeds of a farm can generally be directly traced to foul seeds 

 sown with grasses and clovers for the meadows and pastures. 



In the northern portion of the United States numerous experi- 

 ments seem to clearly indicate that it is best to sow seeds of red 

 clover in spring. In some sections it is sown even before freez- 

 ing ceases, but many now jjractice sowing just in time for the 

 young plants to begin growth with the first early vegetation. 

 If sown in autumn^ esi:)ecially if late, the young plants are very 

 likely too feeble to survive the winter. If at all in autumn the 

 date should be early enough to give plants a good start. In the 

 warmer jiortions of our Union clover is often sown in autumn, 

 or even in winter. 



Clover seed is most generally sown where wheat and some 

 Timothy were sown the autumn previous, though it is not un- 

 frequently sown in spring, with a thin seeding of oats or barley. 



It is a common practice with our best farmers to harrow the 

 ground very lightly before sowing the clover seed. This bene- 

 fits the wheat as well as favors the growth of the clover. 



Where no grass seeds have been soAvn, at the West, the farmer 

 sows 0, 8 or 10 or even 13 pounds of clover seed to the acre, but 

 at the East 25 or 30 pounds is not thought too much. 



In (Jrcat Britain, which possesses a moist climate favorable to 

 the <lcvelo])ment of grasses and clovers, it is the practice to sow 

 much more seed than is usiiullv soAvn in the United States. 



