CHAPTER II. 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES WHICH APPLY TO THE GROWING 

 OF GRASSES. 



In discussing the question of grasses and how to grow 

 them it is quite impossible to lay down any hard and 

 fast rules which will be applicable in all instances and 

 without variation, owing to the differences in method 

 called for by a difference in the conditions which re- 

 late to growth. This difference may arise from varia- 

 tions in soils, in climates, in the rotations practiced, 

 and also from various other causes, including the va- 

 rious uses for which they are grown. To illustrate : 

 while it may be advantageous to bury grass seeds to a 

 considerable depth in certain soils, it may be equally 

 advantageous to sow them on the surface in other soils. 

 While the best results may be obtained from sowing some 

 grasses in the spring in certain climates, to secure equal 

 results in certain other climates, it would be necessary 

 to sow them in the fall. Again, while in some instances 

 a stand of certain grasses can only be obtained after 

 a crop which puts humus in the soil, under other con- 

 ditions an equally good stand may be obtained by sow- 

 ing them, almost anywhere in the rotation, and while 

 it may be eminently proper to sow certain grasses with 

 but scant thickness, to grow seed crops it may be equally 

 proper to sow them quite thickly when the object is 



