THE GRASS QUESTION. 209 



other hand, a good, all-around sort, will grow on dry, 

 sandy loam ; fairly well on poor clay, and better on rich 

 bottoms, so it be not overflowed, and it even endures the 

 shade of trees. Blue grass, doing best on limestone 

 soils, is ]^.ot a good hay producer, as it is a light cropper, 

 difficult to cut, and harder to cure, but it is eminently a 

 pasturage and lawn grass. It is an easy grower, flourish- 

 ing for a limited time on gravels, bottoms and clays, 

 while on limestone soils, grazing fields have been known 

 to remain in perfection for sixty years. It will not 

 stand severe drouth, but resists any amount of frost, 

 while continued pasturage only makes it better. 



Thin seeding of grass is a most serious mistake, as a 

 poor stand of grass only leaves room for weeds to occupy 

 the sj^ace. Consequently, we advise a very liberal appli- 

 cation of seed, for, under the best conditions, as respects 

 preparation of land, distribution of seed and covering, a 

 large portion of the seed will get too deeply covered over 

 to vegetate. Not more than one farmer in a hundred, 

 by his field practice, shows any indication that he real- 

 izes the necessity of shallow covering of grass seeds, for 

 they generally put on a harrow and cover, to a depth of 

 one to two and one-half inches, delicate seeds not one- 

 thirtieth of an inch in diameter. Certainly the greater 

 part never shows a green blade, for farmers seldom stop 

 to consider the delicate nature of the seeds they commit 

 to rough, cloddy earth. One who sets himself to esti- 

 mate the number of seeds in a pound, will soon come to 

 a realization of the necessity for a perfect seed bed, for 

 he will find the seeds to number, in a pound of Tall 

 Fescue, 250,000, Red clover 280,000, Orchard grass 

 600,000, Timothy 1,250,000, Blue grass 2,375,000, 

 Rough Meadow 3,000,000, and Red Top 8,000,000. Can 

 it be expected that over ten per cent, of the seeds ever 

 make a plant, considering the rough tillage and careless 

 sowing of the ordinary farmer ? 

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