136 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



On wet soils adapted to redtop, add white clover and alsike clover. 



On poor upland soils use redtop, Canada blue grass and white clover. 

 Under certain conditions brome grass may be included. 



Where Bermuda grass thrives best, add Lespedeza clover, bur clover 

 and Italian rye grass. 



In addition to the grasses mentioned, orchard grass is desirable, because 

 it furnishes early pasture. 



If there is any doubt relative to the purity of the grass and clover 

 seeds to be used, a sample should be submitted to the state experiment 

 station for examination and test. One familiar with grass and clover seeds 

 may make his own inspection by the use of a hand lens, and may also make 

 his own germination test by the use of white blotting paper moistened and 

 placed in an ordinary dinner plate covered with another to retain moisture. 

 One or two hundred seeds placed between the blotters and kept at favorable 

 temperature will enable one to determine the percentage of germination. 

 Careful inspection every day or two should be made to keep the blotters 

 continuously moist. 



Seeding Grasses and Clovers. A full crop of grass, whether for a 

 meadow or pasture, necessitates a full stand of plants. The first essential 

 to this is the requisite number of viable seeds, well distributed on every 

 part of the field. There are many factors that influence the stand besides 

 the rate of seeding. 



Rates of seeding for the different grasses and clovers when used alone 

 are given in the chapter on " Grasses and Clovers." A few species only 

 enter into the average meadow mixture. As a rule, the ratio of the amount 

 of seed for the different species entering into a meadow mixture will be a 

 little larger than the amount when seeded alone. For example, timothy 

 seeded at the rate of 15 pounds alone and red clover at the rate of 12 

 pounds, when seeded together would require on an average of about 9 

 pounds of timothy and 7 pounds of clover, making a total of 16 pounds as 

 compared with one-half of the sum of the two individual rates, which would 

 be 13|. 



The depth of seeding has already been discussed under several of the 

 species of grasses and clovers. The depth in case of mixtures should be 

 regulated with even more accuracy than in seeding one species only. It 

 should meet as accurately as possible the needs of the leading grasses and 

 clovers in the mixture. In special cases it may be found advantageous to 

 drill the clovers and broadcast the smaller grass seeds, such as timothy, 

 redtop and blue grass. The depth is also controlled largely by character 

 of soil and weather conditions. In midsummer, when the soil is dry and the 

 temperature high, seeds should be covered rather deeply. In the cool, 

 moist portion of the year, very shallow covering is better. In no case can 

 grass and clover seeds be covered more than two inches without suffering 

 much loss. With the smaller grass seeds, one-half inch to an inch is 

 generally sufficient. 



