180 GRASSES AND HOW TO GROW THEM. . 



some instances to run the mower over the gi'ound once 

 or of tener the same season to keep weeds from maturing 

 seed. 



The seed has more commonly been sown by hand 

 than by any other method. It does not feed well into 

 the ordinary drill tubes alone or mixed with grain unless 

 perfectly clean, owing to the chaffy character of the 

 seed. But it would seem probable that the seed could be 

 sown with the drill by mixing it with some heavy sub- 

 stance as earth. It would also seem probable that some 

 form of hand machine would be introduced in the near 

 future that would do this work satisfactorily. Sowing 

 the seed by hand is slow and tedious. Owing to the 

 lightness of the seed, only a narrow cast is made and it 

 can only be sown in a still time. There is the further 

 objection that the seed will fall unevenly, unless when 

 sown by a skilled sower. 



Opinions differ widely as to whether Russian brome 

 grass ought to be sown alone or with a nurse crop. This 

 question is much affected by locality and the season at 

 which a crop is sown. Where the rainfall is sufficient, 

 and when the seed is sown in the early spring, ordi- 

 narily it ought to be sown with a nurse crop, as if sown 

 alone, Aveeds Avill probably shade the grass as much or 

 more than a nurse crop would, unless cut back with the 

 mower. In the T^orth, winter rye, winter wheat, where 

 it can be grown, or any of the small spring cereals, as 

 wheat, oats, barley or even flax, are suitable nurse 

 crops. The least suitable is oats, because of the leafy 

 character of the growth, and yet oats make a very suita- 

 ble nurse crop if sown quite thinly and cut for hay while 



