32 GRASSES AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 



there is but little moisture in the soil. The objections to 

 sowing thus are : 1. In a majority of instances only a 

 partial crop of grass is obtained the hrst season, hence, 

 the value that would have accrued from a nurse crop had 

 it been grown is reduced in proportion as the grass crop 

 is short in its yield. When it is necessary to take one 

 season to secure a stand of grass without getting a re- 

 turn from it, the question arises as to whether food for 

 stock should not be grown in some other way. 2. In 

 many instances, weeds grow, which if not checked would 

 shade the grass quite as much as the grain, and would 

 also mature seeds the plants from which the following 

 year would greatly reduce and injure the hay crop. This 

 can be prevented of course by mowing them off and al- 

 lowing them to lie on the ground to form a mulch when 

 not too dense, but this of course entails considerable la- 

 bor. 3. It sometimes happens that the young plants, 

 when sown thus, are killed out partially or wholly in 

 spots by the hot sunshine on an encrusted soil. It is 

 evident, therefore, that the practice of sowing grasses 

 with a nurse crop is likely to prevail generally in the 

 future as in the past. 



The nurse crops that may be used are various. They 

 include all or nearly all the small cereal grains ; in 

 some instances rape and in others grains grown in mix- 

 tures for soiling food. Winter rye is one of the most 

 favorable crops with which to sow grasses, since these 

 may in many instances be sown in the fall or early spring 

 as may be necessary. It does not stool as much as some 

 grains, hence it injures the young grass less by excessive 

 shade, and it is harvested early, thus giving the grass 



