A STAND OF GRASS 291 



very unsatisfactory and uneven stand of grass. The thin 

 seeding of a nurse-crop is a distinct help if it is taken 

 away before it has exhausted the soil of moisture; if 

 it is allowed to stand till the grain is ripened many of 

 the young grass plants will have died. 



A Sure Way to Get a Grass Stand. In order to get 

 a stand of these young grasses one must have the land 

 firm, the shading weeds destroyed and the sun let in but 

 not too strongly. The best success that I have ever had 

 in seeding has been to sow early in spring with a nurse- 

 crop of barley or oats, and as soon as the grasses and 

 clovers and grain were well started turning in a flock of 

 sheep and letting them graze it all down, but not close. 

 As soon as it is well grazed down, which should be within 

 a few days, the sheep are taken out and all allowed to 

 start growth again. The sheep are turned in the sec- 

 ond, and later the third, time, judgment being used to 

 see that they do not gnaw the young clovers too. I have 

 had no such stands in any other system of management 

 as I have secured in this way. The little feet of the sheep 

 seem to firm the land just right without overdoing it. 

 The nibbling down of the oats or barley, the nipping off 

 of the weeds, all seem to favor the young and spring- 

 ing grasses and clovers. After the nurse-crop has been 

 disposed of finally in this manner, the sheep should be 

 taken out for some months to let the young seeding get 

 a brave start. 



Use of a Roller. The roller is an almost indispensable 

 implement in getting a good stand of grass in the spring. 

 The land must be made firm for little seedlings. Sev- 

 eral types of rollers are in use. In general we may say 



