(84) 



to prepare the ground well, as already stated, and sow the seed, if 

 alone, from the 15th of September to the 15th of October ; if with 

 a grain crop, as soon as it can be put in safely. Wheat is sown, as 

 Exgeneral practice, too late to insure a stand of grass that will resist 

 the winter, and it is, therefore, better to sow rye or barley. Let 

 the time of sowing be when it may, the farmer must watch for a 

 season, otherwise the moisture brought up by plowing will be suffi- 

 cient to germinate the seeds, but not to make them live, and even 

 if the moisture is not enough to make them germinate, there may 

 be enough to sprout them, and they will still be destroyed. 



If it is the intention to sow on a stubble, it is better, as soon as 

 possible after harvest, to prepare the land and sow in some of the 

 August seasons, and if sown then, the clover sowing may not be 

 deferred, but sown with the other seeds, as they will have ample 

 time then to root enough to withstand the cold of winter. Timothy 

 or Herd's gras sown in September or October alone, will always 

 make a good crop the next summer. 



As compared with spring sowing, we may safely prefer fall. Both 

 heat and cold are injurious to young grass plants, but of the two, 

 cold is much less injurious than the droughts of summer. It was 

 the experience of the writer, on one occasion, to sow a large 

 meadow. He began about the 1st of September and sowed on 

 until rains stopped him, and again in the middle of October, and 

 finished early in March. On the September sowing there was a 

 magnificent stand that stood over the ground with a solid turf. On 

 the October crop the stand was fair, but much was destroyed during 

 the winter, and the weeds were very troublesome the next year. 

 On the March sowing the stand promised as well as the September 

 crop, but the droughts of summer destroyed it completely. 



But there will always be a difference of opinion on this subject, 

 and this difference mainly arises from the difference in the character 

 of soils. Some soils are better sown in the spring, while others 

 secure better results by fall sowing and in either case the success- 

 ful farmer will advocate his plan. But in either case, as Gen. Hard- 

 ing truthfully says, a man will fail sometimes, let him sow as he 

 will. 



A few words are only necessary in regard to the manner of sow- 

 ing. In the first place, the ground should be thoroughly prepared, 

 and a season on hand, and if rain has fallen since the ground was 



