378 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub; Doc. 



not by any means perfect. It is difficult to set tlie machine 

 for a definite amount, as the (quantity of fertilizer feeding 

 through it will vary widely with the condition of the material. 

 A machine with a more certain and positive feed Avould be 

 better. For the application of fertilizers such as lime or 

 wood ashes, in amounts approximating a ton to the acre or 

 more, we have used Kemp's manure spreader with the slow 

 feed with fairly satisfactory results. It is relatively easy to 

 apply definite amounts to given areas with this machine, 

 but the fertilizer material is likely to drop in large masses 

 occasionally, owing to not being reached and distributed hy 

 the beater ; and to avoid killing the grass in the spots where 

 this happens, it is necessary to go over the field and scatter 

 such fertilizer by hand. 



The Care of Mowings. 



While great care is commonly taken in smoothing and 

 leveling the surface when land is put into mowings, there is 

 a tendency to unevenness, as the result of the action of frost 

 and other agencies, and occasional rolling is likely to prove 

 beneficial. In the case of the non-sod-forming grasses the 

 condition of the mowing may be better maintained if some 

 seed is occasionally sown. The reason why timothy in some 

 cases proves much more persistent than in others is undoubt- 

 edly because the crop is harvested so late that some of the 

 seed is mature before the crop is cut, and the seed thus acci- 

 dentally scattered helps to thicken the mowing l)y })r()ducing 

 plants which replace others as they die out. The best time 

 for sowing such seed is either^ late summer or very early 

 spring. The (juantity of seed sown should ho varied ac- 

 cording as conditions seem to require. In case the stand 

 of plants in a mowing is especially thin, and it is desired 

 to reinforce it, it may be wise to go over the mowing either 

 with a hai'row or a weighted weeder after sowing the seed. 



The Common Weeds of ovm Mowinos. 

 A considerable ))roj)ortion of the mowings of the State 

 are infested with weeds of difi'erent kinds. Among the most 

 common and troiil)lesome are the common while and the 



