368 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Ijut these will handle only the relatively small and heavy 

 seeds ; the long or chafiy seeds cannot be satisfactorily dis- 

 tributed by the use of these machines. A mixture of tim- 

 othy, red-top and clovers can be sown Avith a machine of 

 this type in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. 



Manuking Grass Laxds. 

 The question of the proper selection and use of manures 

 and fertilizers for grass lands may be best considered under 

 two general heads : first, manuring in preparation for the 

 crop ; second, top-dressing. 



Manuring in Preparation for the Crop. 

 It seems best at the outset under this topic to state as 

 briefly as may be possible some of the facts wdiich seem to 

 be best established as regards the general effects of manures 

 and fertilizers. Some of these facts are equally important 

 in considering the selection of manures and fertilizers for 

 top-dressing. Our mowings almost always contain two 

 classes of plants, — grasses and clovers. The manurial re- 

 quirements of these two classes of plants are, in one im- 

 portant respect, Avholly different. Both grasses and clovers 

 require a considerable amount of nitrogen, clovers more 

 than grasses ; but the grasses nmst take all the nitrogen 

 which they require from the soil, while the clovers, if con- 

 ditions be right, can get most if not all of the nitrogen they 

 require from the air. Whenever land is occupied by two or 

 more species of plants, there is a struggle between the dif- 

 ferent kinds for its possession. If we make the conditions 

 favorable to clovers and less favorable for grasses, the for- 

 mer will predominate. Whether the mowing will produce 

 chiefly grasses or largely clover, depends, then, not alone 

 upon the seed sown, but upon the condition of the soil as 

 regards available nitrogen and available mineral elements of 

 plant food, such as phosphoric acid, potash and lime. If 

 available nitrogen is relatively abundant, then grasses will 

 predominate ; if the other elements are relatively abundant, 

 while nitrogen is present only in small amounts, the clovers 

 are likely to })redominate. If this is to be the case, how- 



