18 



reason that the season of maturity of these grasses is very different ; the clover should 

 be cut about the 15th of June while in blossom, the Herd's grass about July 1, and 

 the redtop about July 15. When they are mixed it will -be impossible to cut them 

 all in perfection ; and if the Herd's grass is cut too early in dry weather it is almost 

 sure to be killed out. 



Mr. T. C. Alvord, of Vermont, writes in the Boston Cultivator as fol- 

 lows : 



For a number of years past I have sown grass seed only in the spring. On such 

 lauds as I wish to seed down without grain I fit my land in the fall if I can, as that 

 saves valuable time in the spring ; but if I do not have time to perform the work in 

 tho fall, I fit the land as early as I can in the spring, sowing the seed then. On all lands 

 that I seed down I finish working the land before the seed is sown, never covering 

 the seed. I think where grass seed is harrowed, raked, or brushed in much of the 

 seed is covered so deep that it never comes up. 



Many people think that grass seed sown in the spring will not make a good crop of 

 hay the first season, and that it requires two seasons to do it. This is an error. On 

 all the lands that I have sown with grass seed in the spring the grass has been ripe 

 enough to cut in from ten to twelve weeks from the time the seed was sown, while I 

 invariably get better crops than I do when I seed down * ith grain. If the grain lodges 

 it will kill the grass, and if the weather is dry the grass will dry up, while in both 

 cases the land will need reseeding; also weeds and foul grasses will occupythe soil. 



If grass seed is sown by itself in the spring it will generally get so good a start that 

 no ordinary dry or hot weather in the summer will injure the crop. When seeding 

 land in this way a sufficient quantity of seed should be sown, so that if it all grows 

 the laud will be all occupied with grass, thus preventing the growth of weeds, also 

 giving a large yield with a better quality of grass, while forming a thicker turf to 

 be turned under for the enrichment of the soil when the land is again plowed. 



On all lands which I have seeded in this way the first crop of hay has averaged 

 two tons per acre. 



Beseeding Old and Worn-out Meadows. We have already stated that all 

 wet lands with a clay subsoil should be subjected to a system of tile 

 drainage, but in some cases a temporary substitute may be found in a 

 certain manner of plowing, as is detailed in the following communica- 

 tion from a correspondent of the American Cultivator: 



I will state my experience, in brief, ou cold, wet, swale-land that was once a black- 

 ash swamp. The grass was so light and wild it did not pay for cutting. Immedi- 

 ately after haying I plowed it in deep wide furrows, being sure to lap them and turn 

 Hat over. I took pains to make dead furrows where they should be, and also a clear 

 outlet at the lower end of the furrows. I harrowed lightly with a fine harrow, and 

 went over the field with a hoe and fixed the loose sod, and top-dressed with a light 

 coat of manure and gravelly loam scraped up in the milking yard, and sowed on a 

 mixture of redtop, timothy, and English ilat turnip seed, then brushed lightly. 

 Now for results: In the first place, I harvested turnips enough from the piece to pay 

 for the labor of plowing and fitting the piece, and the next harvest I cut the heaviest 

 burden of hay from that land that I ever saw on any meadow ; it was waist-high and 

 very thick. I accounted for it in this way, the land was thoroughly drained by tho 

 apaces left between the furrows, and the decaying sod provided a rich, warm seed- 

 bed above the cold, wet, hard-pan, a portion of which had been brought to the sur- 

 face by the deep plowing. Of course a roller would not have been tolerated on the 

 pieee, as it would have been detrimental to the best results. I wanted to get the 

 land nj) and keep it up as long as I could, and let it breathe by leaving space for air 

 to puss in under and come np through ; and I believe that if such land was plowed 

 in that way Hear up to fYeey.in<>; time and seeded then or left until early spring, when 

 clover seed could be added, most excellent results would follow. 



