PASTURE — CLOVER. 537 



heavy mulch is secured for the protection of the roots of the 

 grass, and Winter killing or freezing out never occurs. Then 

 in the Spriug, before the new grass has made much progress, 

 the fire is made to run over the meadows and every thing 

 burned off, leaving the ground clean and free from obstructions 

 to the mowing machines, while the ashes act as a stimulating 

 fertilizer to quicken the growth and keep up the yield from 

 year to year. 



PASTURE. 



But for pasturing, and for hay also, on most farms, time- 

 thy is needed, or other tame grasses. I have been very suc- 

 cessful in producing good timothy pasture on unbroken prairie 

 sod, by sowing the seed upon the last snow in the Spring. In 

 fact, I have never failed to get a good catch in this way. The 

 melting of the snow, and the freezing and thawing of the 

 ground, moisten and cover the seed, putting it in the best con- 

 dition for growing. 



In seeding old land with timothy, I have had success by mix- 

 ing the seed with the grain in the seed box (using the broad- 

 cast seeder). It is easy to determine the amount of grass 

 seed needed to each bushel of grain put in the seeder. By 

 this means I am able to get the seed in more evenly than I 

 could by hand sowing. 



In a country like this, where wheat raising is the principal 

 business, and where comparatively little manure is made, it is 

 necessary that some method of fertilizing be adopted other 

 than the hauling of barn-yard manure on the land. 



CLOVER. 



I have commenced growing clover to be plowed under as 

 a green manure, but have not had sufficient experience to be 

 able to give definite results. We have no clover huller in this 

 community, but I have secured good results in growing clover 

 by sowing the seed in the chaff after having threshed the 

 straw by hand with an old-fashioned flail. I am not certain 

 but the catch is more sure than by sowing the clean seed. 



