20 FORAGE CROPS. 



manure may be spread in the winter or at such other 

 time as may be convenient, up to the season when 

 the land is to be plowed. When moisture is abun- 

 dant, fresh manure may be applied, providing it is 

 buried to a sufficient depth and with sufficient care to 

 prevent it from interfering with the proper sowing 

 of the seed. But in dry climates, fresh and long 

 manure should not be thus buried in the spring, lest 

 it should keep the land so open and loose that the 

 manure will not decay. 



Potash as a commercial fertilizer may be applied 

 any time previous to the sowing of the crop, phos- 

 phoric acid shortly before or when the crop is sown, 

 and nitrogen when the crop is sown or subsequently, 

 but before the plants have reached an advanced stage 

 of growth. The first may be incorporated with the 

 soil as may be convenient. The second should be 

 incorporated with the surface soil, and the third 

 should be similarly incorporated, or, what would be 

 preferable, sown upon the surface. 



Sowing. — The seed should not be sown until 

 reasonable danger from frost is past, until that sea- 

 son has arrived when fairly warm weather may be 

 looked for, or until the ground has become warm. 

 A slight frost, however, that only nips off the tops 

 of the blades may not work very serious harm. Corn 

 for pasture may be sown,if desired, a few days earlier 

 than corn grown for other uses. Owing to the thick 

 character of the sowing, though a proportion of the 

 plants should fail, they will not be seriously missed 

 from the crop. And it may be sown far on into the 

 summer, according to climatic and other conditions. 



As to the mode of sowing corn for pasture, 

 something will depend upon the facilities at hand 



