RUSSIAN BROME GRASS. 181 



yet immature. In the southern states, any of the winter 

 cereals will answer as well as nurse crops. When the 

 rainfall is short and when the seed is sown later than 

 the early spring, it is more commonly grown alone so 

 that the young plants may have the full benefit of all the 

 moisture in the soil. The plants are delicate wdien 

 young, in the sense that they gTow slowly, and that then 

 they are easily destroyed by dense shade. This fact 

 should never be lost sight of when sowing Eussian 

 brome grass, and the amount of seed sown in providing 

 the nurse crop should be regiilated accordingly. The 

 harrow is generally used in covering the seed. A mod- 

 erate covering is preferred in moist climates, but in dry 

 areas and light soils the covering should be deeper, espe- 

 cially when the seed is sown in the spring. 



The amount of seed that ought to be so^vn will vary 

 with the object sought from sowing it, and also with 

 soil conditions. ^Tien wanted for pasture, as quickly 

 as the same can be provided in good form, more seed is 

 required than when hay is sought ; and on soils low in 

 fertility more seed ought to be sown than when the con- 

 ditions are the opposite. Some authorities recommend 

 sowing as much as 30 pounds of seed per acre, a seeding 

 that w^ould certainly be excessive. A sufficient stand 

 has been obtained from sowing as small a quantity as 3 

 j^ounds per acre, but n<^t until the second year after 

 sowing the seed. x\s the tendency is ever present with 

 Russian brome erass to thicken from season to season, if 

 the plants grow too thickly at the first, the yield of seed 

 is lessened even the first season, and subsequently the 

 yield in hay and pasture will be less also than if the 



