76 THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



The legal weight per bushel in most states is 14 pounds, but 

 a well cleaned sample will weigh from 24 to 28 pounds. The 

 Illinois Station reports 2,185,000 seeds; Lawson, 3,888,000 seeds 

 per pound. 



74. Seeding. It is customary to recommend 40 pounds of 

 commercial seed per acre when sown alone for the purpose of 

 securing a good stand of grass as rapidly as may be as, for 

 example, in the case of lawns. This is at the rate of 2,000 

 seeds per square foot. It is probable that if 80 per cent, of 

 the seed were viable half this amount would be sufficient. On 

 the other hand, one of the important reasons for failure in 

 practise to secure good lawns is due to using an insufficient 

 amount of viable seeds. 



On account of the expense of the seed and the slow develop- 

 ment of Kentucky blue grass, it is seldom sown alone for 

 pasture. It is usually sown with a mixture of other grasses 

 and clovers with the expectation that as the Kentucky blue 

 grass develops most of these will disappear. What this mixture 

 should be will depend on soil and climate, and to some extent 

 whether it is to be mown for a year or two or pastured from 

 the beginning. For the North Atlantic and North Central states 

 the following mixture may be taken as a basis to be modified 

 to suit varying conditions; timothy 15; Kentucky blue grass 

 10; meadow fescue 2; red clover 8 or alsike clover 6, or 

 both in half these amounts; and white clover 2 pounds. Such 

 a mixture will cost from $3 to $4 per acre. 



The grass seeds of this mixture may be sown in September 

 and the clover seeds as early as may be in the spring, or the 

 whole mixture may be sown in the spring after the land has 

 been well prepared. If a sod at the earliest possible moment 

 is desired, the mixture should be sown without grain crop. If 

 immediate pasture is wanted, rye may be sown at the rate of 

 one bushel per acre in September with the grass seeds. In gen- 

 eral, the best financial returns will be obtained by seeding the 



