130 How THE FARM PAYS. 



A. My experience with it is that it would not. But in many 

 localities, and even generally in the Central States, farmers do this 

 with partial success. Their method is as follows : Timothy is sown 

 with the wheat or rye in the fall ; Clover is sown in the spring. A 

 full crop of hay is taken next year, and a top dressing of fine manure 

 is given as soon as the hay is taken off. This protects and feeds the 

 roots, and the ground is soon covered and protected by a new growth. 

 A second crop of hay is taken the next year, or perhaps two cuttings 

 are made ; the grass is pastured the year after, and the sod is turned 

 under in the spring for corn. Corn is followed by oats, and oats by 

 wheat, and this completes the rotation. This is very good practice 

 for those farmers under their circumstances, and pays them well; all 

 the better when it is well done. I am positive that no crop of 

 Timothy will last well over three years, when the land must be 

 reseeded. Every season I have scores of letters on this all-important 

 subject to the farmer, asking me if there is any way of getting perma- 

 nent mowing lands and pasture without this continuous trouble of 

 plowing down and reseeding. I trust that what I have here advised 

 in the grass mixture and method of culture will answer as a general 

 reply to all such queries. I have explained my views far more fully 

 and at length than can possibly be done in the necessarily limited 

 compass of a letter, besides saving me many hours of valuable time, 

 which at many seasons I can ill spare. 



Q. I would like to refer again to the mixture of grass seeds which 

 you prefer. This mixture will no doubt suit your manner of growing 

 grass very well; but do I understand you to say that it is to be 

 recommended under all circumstances? 



A. I would not go so far as that. These seeds are very costly, and 

 might not suit the circumstances of a great many farmers. There are 

 some varieties which might be left out in many cases. For instance, 

 Italian Eye Grass is not a perennial, and might be omitted, as it will 

 run out the second year after sowing. The perennial Eye Grass 

 would be sufficient without it. Ehode Island Bent is so nearly like 

 Eed Top, that both need not be sown, and the latter only used. So 

 the Sheep's Fescue is useful ehiefly where sheep are pastured, as it is 

 a small variety, and serves chiefly to make up a succession of herbage. 

 Sweet Vernal Grass might also be left out, as this grass is quite preva- 

 lent, and comes in naturally in almost all places. The quantities, too, 

 might be reduced, and all the varieties retained. But certainly I 

 would advise that not less than twenty-five pounds of seed altogether 

 should be sown per acre, which is only half of the amount of seed I 

 use. But for myself I prefer heavy seeding, and believe it is the 

 cheapest in the end, because in sowing these mixed grasses it should 



