QUANTITY OF SEED PER ACRE 285 



that nothing sells so well as timothy and any admixture 

 decreases the price obtainable. 



Amount of Seed to the Acre. Grass seeds are com- 

 monly very minute. Thus of bluegrass there are 2,400,- 

 ooo seeds to the pound, of redtop 6,000,000 and of tim- 

 othy 1,700,000. If, then, one pound of bluegrass seed 

 could be evenly distributed over an acre, it would place 

 about 55 seeds to the square foot, a number ample to 

 give a good stand of grass. However, it is nearly im- 

 possible to get a perfect distribution of seeds, and quite 

 impossible to get them covered evenly, so that one can 

 not count on more than a very small percentage of ger- 

 mination. There is the further fact that when the little 

 seedling grass plant comes to light it is very weak and 

 small,, and alone is pretty sure to perish. Literally, in 

 union there is strength. I have sown grass seeds in the 

 fall and later seen perfect stands where the seed was 

 sown "too thick," and very poor stands indeed where it 

 was sown "just right," as we had believed at seeding 

 time, all the other care alike. With the smaller seeds 

 then of the bluegrasses, redtop, and others of that nature, 

 the thicker the seeding the better the hopes. I should 

 not hesitate with these seeds to put on 20 to 30 pounds 

 to the acre, no matter if it does seem too liberal a seed- 

 ing. Of timothy, orchard grass, brome grass, and seeds 

 of like size, one can sow much less seed and get good 

 stands. I found by experiment that timothy sown very 

 thick gave a very reduced yield, and Hunt found that 

 because of timothy's strong stooling habit a single plant 

 had given 125 pounds of well cured hay. Only 3,200 

 plants such as that would be required on one acre to 



