33 



a good start if sown early in spring with a suitable nurse crop ; but it 

 far too frequently happens that when the nurse crop is removed (which 

 must usually be late in June or during the month of July) the exposure 

 of the young grass to the hot sun seriously weakens if it does not 

 destroy a considerable i^roportion of it. At the season of the year when 

 the nurse crop is removed we have our hottest weather, and not infre- 

 quently at the same time a marked deficiencsy of rainfall. With hot and 

 persistently dry weather following the removal of the nurse crop damage 

 to the young grass is certain to be serious on all except the naturally 

 moist and the richer soils. For the reasons which have been indicated, 

 the writer regards this method of seeding as one of the least desirable. 



Ijiite Summer or Fall Seeding. — C4rass which is sown in suitably pre- 

 pared soil during the latter ])art of summer without a nurse crop seldom 

 fails to do well, and where the system of rotation xuakes it possible to 

 have the land clear at the right time, or in cases where mowings are to 

 be broken up and immediately reseeded, this seems to the writer to be 

 the best time. In many cases seeding is delayed until the middle of 

 September or later, but if this be the case the clover seed is usually left 

 out to be sown the following spring. With suitable weather in spring 

 clover often makes a good start if sown in this way, but a full crop can- 

 not of course be expected the same season. Better results are obtained 

 if the land can be seeded sufficiently early to make it safe to include the 

 clover with the grass seeds. The reseeding of the mowing in the ex- 

 periment station, which has been already several times referred to, was 

 eminently successful. The clover passed through the winter perfectly, 

 and constituted a large proportion of the crop of hay produced. The 

 month of August is, in the writer's opinion, the best month for seeding 

 to mixed grass and clover ; and the most satisfactory results are likely 

 to be obtained if the seed can be got in not later than about the middle 

 of that month. 



Seeding in Corn.* — " Among the various methods which the writer has 

 tried for seeding to grass and clover, he has found the system of sowing 

 in growing corn at the time of the last cultivation, usually from July 20 

 to August 5, to give most satisfactory results. The culture of the corn 

 must be level, and it must be kept free from weeds. Just previous to 

 sowing the seed a spiketooth cultivator should be used, which will leave 

 the surface fine and mellow. The quantity of seed used should be rather 

 larger than may be required when it is sown alone, as a part of it fails 

 to reach the ground, being cauglit and retained by the broad leaves of 

 the corn. Dog-day weather should be selected for sowing the seed ; and 

 if it can be scattered upon the freshly cultivated surface just before 

 the heavy showers which occur so frequently during dog-days, the seed 

 will need no (covering, and will often have germinated within forty-eight 

 hours from the time of sowing. The shade of the corn crop is favora- 

 ble to the retention of moisture, and on all except the driest soils there 

 \yill be moisture enough to keep the young plants growing. The corn 

 protects from the sun, but does not crowd. It is not likely to lodge and 



* Brooks's Agriculture, Vol. II., p. 426, 



