88 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



Methods of Sowing the Seed. Having the fine, firm 

 seedbed I suggest drilling into it one bushel to the acre 

 of beardless spring barley, afterward sowing the grass 

 mixture by hand. To cover the seed sufficiently a brush 

 harrow is good. One can readily make this by fastening 

 small, stiff, wiry branches to a brace, or even drag brush 

 over the field anything that will not dig deep or cover 

 seed deep. Mind it is done early in spring. Observe 

 afterward how much finer a stand you have where you 

 have applied the most manure. If no manure is avail- 

 able and one wishes to stimulate the young grasses one 

 may apply before sowing the seed commercial fertilizers. 

 Bonemeal will do wonders say 400 pounds to the acre, 

 or the same amount and 100 pounds of nitrate of soda. 

 In truth, the use of bonemeal or phosphatic fertilizers of 

 some sort has been well proved to be a first-rate agricul- 

 tural practice when establishing grasses. 



Sowing Blue grass with Alfalfa. If I wished to estab- 

 lish the very best possible bluegrass I would forget the 

 bluegrass and prepare the land exactly right for alfalfa. 

 Then when the alfalfa has been sown and established I 

 would know that the bluegrass would come in tremendous 

 vigor, even if no seed were sown at all. Naturally it 

 would come in better when seed was sown, say 15 pounds 

 of alfalfa, and at the same time in early April 20 

 pounds more or less of bluegrass. In England the best 

 farmers have learned that there is nothing else so good 

 a preparation for grass as alfalfa. 



Improving Bluegrass by Sowing Alfalfa. Similarly, 

 it is a great scheme to sow alfalfa on an old bluegrass 



