and precise placement of seed without energy-expensive tillage and labor- 

 intensive operations of preparing a suitable seedbed. Recently herbicides 

 which suppress or kill vegetation and allow seeding into previously live 

 sod without residual toxicity to introduced seedlings have come on the market 



Maintaining the killed sod and surface mulch aids in water penetration, 

 minimizes the amount of water running off, and p;reatly reduces the erosion 

 effect of runoff water and wind. Plant nutrients, seed and pesticides 

 carried in runoff are therefore greatly reduced. 



Seeding directly into sod is an attractive alternative to conventional 

 methods of forage establishment in the Northeast where there is a pre- 

 ponderance of hilly, rocky fields and it is either impractical or conserva- 

 tionally unwise to plow and prepare a fitted seedbed. 



Much of the forage-producing land in the Northeast sustains very low 

 levels of production due to the presence of unproductive species. Since 

 these species fail to respond adequately to fertility, the lack of liming 

 and fertilization, combined with relatively high rainfall, has led to 

 acidic soils low in plant-available nutrients. Because of the difficulty, 

 time, labor, expense, and lack of technology for introducing improved 

 species, these fields have not been improved. 



The purpose of this study was to determine the potential of establishing 

 perennial forages, primarily legumes, directly into sod in relation to 

 conventional seeding. 



