ORCHARD-GRASS 67 



For the eastern, middle or western states, from 

 the middle of August to the middle of September 

 is the proper time. 



Manures and fertilizers for orchard-grass 



Like other grasses, orchard - grass requires 

 abundance of nitrogenous food, and therefore the 

 promise of a crop is very much increased by the 

 application of manures or fertilizers containing 

 nitrogen at the time of seeding, and by top -dress- 

 ings with nitrate of soda in the spring. The recom- 

 mendations usually made for seeding down with 

 grass in general, can be followed here with suc- 

 cess, — to use eight to ten tons of yard manure 

 per acre when it is available, thoroughly incorpor- 

 ating it with the soil previous to seeding. If such 

 manures are not available, then an application is 

 recommended of 300 to 500 pounds of a fertilizer 

 containing 



Nitrogen 4 per cent 



Phosphoric acid (available) 8 per cent 



Potash 8 per cent 



The fertilizer should be applied previous to seeding, 

 and well harrowed in. On most soils, it will also 

 pay well to follow this in spring with a top-dress- 

 ing of nitrate of soda, at the rate of 100 to 150 

 pounds per acre, applied as soon as the plants 

 have begun their vegetative functions, usually dur- 



