27 



CONCLUSIONS 



Based on the results of these experiments, the following conclusions 

 were made: 



1. Legumes were established successfully in sods without the usual 

 tillage preparatory steps and without nitrogen fertilizer. 



2. Except on a seasonally wet site, sod seedings were slower to 

 establish and yields in the seeding year were 15-25% lower than with 

 conventional seedings. Yields in succeeding years were equivalent 

 for both methods of establishment. 



3. Red clover seeded in August directly into sod on a seasonally 

 wet soil overwintered successfully, while stands seeded conven- 

 tionally failed to overwinter due to heaving. On the same soil, sod 

 seeding in August resulted in greater improvement in forage and red 

 clover yields, relative to unseeded controls, than sod or conventional 

 seedings in May. 



4. Renovation by sod seeding on three sites and four different dates 

 improved forage and protein yields considerably, compared with 

 unseeded controls. Conventional renovation, in the same studies, 

 also improved yields over controls, except at one site where the 

 seeding failed. 



5. With aggressive species such as quackgrass, herbicide applica- 

 tion was much more important for sod seeding than for conventional 

 seeding. Best establishment of alfalfa into quackgrass sod without 

 tillage resulted when quackgrass was killed prior to seeding. 



6. Since the soil surface was disturbed minimally, there was little 

 germination of annual weeds subsequent to sod seedings; annual 

 weeds were much more common in conventional seedings. 



7. As with conventional seeding, stands were denser and yields higher 

 with seeding early in May, compared with mid-May or early June. 



