196 THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



redtop, 3 pounds ; orchard grass, 4 pounds ; red clover, 6 pounds ; 

 and alsike clover, 2 pounds. 



For pasturage on limestone soils in the humid regions north 

 of the cotton belt, blue grass and white clover will soon have 

 complete possession of the land, no matter what species are sown. 

 Therefore, except to afford pasturage while these species are 

 becoming established, there is little occasion to sow any other 

 species than blue grass and white clover. Timothy and red clover 

 are good forerunners of blue grass and white clover. If the soil 

 is rich and much shaded by trees, it is well to sow orchard grass 

 in the permanent pasture. If the soil is deficient in lime or is 

 wet, redtop, English blue grass, and alsike clover should be 

 sown. On light, dry soils, brome grass should be the principal 

 element in the mixture. 



245. When and how to seed grasses. Grasses may be sown 

 in the fall or in the spring and with or without a nurse crop. 

 A nurse crop is such a crop as wheat, oats, or barley sown with 

 the grass to hold the surface from washing or blowing and to 

 shade the young grass plants until they are able to withstand 

 the intense heat. Legumes, with the exception of alfalfa, are 

 usually sown in the spring. Fall is usually the better time in 

 which to sow grass seed. If sown at this season, no nurse crop 

 is required. Timothy is frequently sown on wheat in the fall. 

 It may be sown at the time wheat is sown, preferably with a 

 grass seeder attachment to the wheat drill, so that the timothy 

 seed is sprinkled on the surface of the newly stirred soil to be 

 lightly covered by wind or rain, or it may be sown alone on a 

 good seed bed any time in August or September that there is 

 sufficient moisture in the ground to insure germination and sub- 

 sequent growth. When timothy is sown with wheat, no hay 

 crop is to be expected the following year. When it is sown 

 alone a full crop may be had. It may be seeded alone in the 

 spring when the surface of the ground has been honeycombed, 

 depending upon the subsequent freezing and thawing to cover 

 the seed, or it may be sown in the spring with a nurse crop such 

 as oats or barley. 



