198 FORAGE CROPS 



preparation. When the land is naturally good and 

 well prepared, the quantity of seed may be rela- 

 tively large; but if it is poor and in bad con- 

 dition, a large quantity of seed will not encour- 

 age a proportionately heavy growth, as a great 

 number of young plants will perish because of the 

 lack of a proper medium for their growth and 

 nourishment. The following seed mixture has ])een 

 used with very great success, and as a general 

 grass and clover mixture for dairy farms can be 

 strongly recommended, because it is one for which 

 the seed can be readily obtained, is not expensive, 

 and possesses a sufficient number of distinct plants 

 to permit of complete occupation of the land : 



Timothy 8 pounds 



Red clover 4 pounds 



Alsike 2 pounds 



Cleaned red -top 2 pounds 



This mixture should be sown at the rate of 

 twenty to thirty pounds per acre, — not less than 

 twenty pounds on medium soil, and as much as 

 twenty-four to thirty pounds or even more on very 

 good soil. If seeded in the middle states any time 

 from the middle of August to not later than Sep- 

 tember 20, this mixture of grasses and clovers will 

 make sufficient growth in fall to cover the ground 

 completely, and prevent the starting of weeds, and 

 under good climatic conditions will successfully 

 survive the winter. 



