234 FORAGE CROPS. 



"body" to the light, sandy land and in otherwise 

 fitting it to grow successfully crops of clover and 

 grain. At the Minnesota University experiment 

 station, spurry has not proved altogether satisfac- 

 tory thus far. The growth secured has not been 

 sufficient to make it a competitor with some 

 other crops. 



Spurry should be sown more as a catch crop 

 than as a regular crop in the rotation. It should be 

 ready to pasture or to plow under in from six to 

 eight weeks from the date of sowing, providing it is 

 not sown before the weather has become warm. 

 Where there is moisture enough to insure germina- 

 tion, spurry can be sown after a grain crop, and 

 simply covered with a harrow. On the bare fallow 

 it would also seem to have a place. When grown 

 as a green manure or as a pasture for sheep, two 

 crops a year may be secured, and in some climates 

 three. This crop, therefore, would seem worthy of 

 attention on the part of our agriculturists, more 

 especially on "pine lands" where the soil is sandy 

 and poor and where the climate is moist in 

 character. 



Since spurry is best adapted to light, sandy 

 lands, but little labor is necessary in preparing the 

 soil. The seed should fall on a smooth, impacted 

 and fine surface, and it may be sown and covered in 

 the same way as clover seed. As the seed is small, 

 a light harrow will give a sufficient covering. From 

 six to eight quarts of seed are sown per acre to pro- 

 vide pasture, fodder or green manure. But a less 

 quantity will suffice to produce a seed crop in good 

 form. It is ready to cut for hay after the seed has 

 formed and before it is ripe. The seed may be bar- 



