GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 31 



duced. But when this happens, compensation is ob- 

 tained in part at least, by the added value given to the 

 straw. The leading objections to sowing thus are: 1. 

 That sometimes the grass or grasses are weakened and 

 partially destroyed by excessive shade in the nurse crop. 

 2. That in other instances the vitality of the grasses is 

 so weakened through the consumption of moisture by 

 the nurse crop, especially during the ripening period, 

 that when the nurse crop is removed when ripe, the 

 hot sunshine prevailing at the time will in some areas 

 and in some seasons kill a portion of the plants. Some- 

 times the destruction is total. 3. When the nurse crop 

 lodges some considerable time before it is ready to be 

 harvested, the grasses sown with it are pretty certain 

 to be smothered by the nurse crop. Such lodging may 

 be prevented by pasturing the grain crop for a time in 

 the early stages of the growth of the same. 



The benefits from sowing without a nurse crop include 

 the following: 1. In some instances a more vigorous 

 stand may be secured, since the plants have the full 

 benefit of unimpeded sunlight and of all the moisture 

 in the soil. Especially is this true when the plants are 

 sown on clean soil and start well when they begin to 

 grow. 2. When hay of a certain kind is wanted it 

 may be obtained one year sooner, in some instances, 

 when sown without a nurse crop, as for instance, when 

 timothy is sown alone in the autumn, or when certain of 

 the rye grasses are sown in the spring. 3. A stand of 

 grasses may sometimes be secured when thus sown 

 under conditions of weather that would prove fatal to 

 grasses sown with a nurse crop, more especially wher 



