G8 THE DAIRYMAls-'S MAXUAL. 



the wind, and on returning can easily distinguish the 

 foot marks of the preWous track m the soft soil. 



A broadcast seeder is a convenient implement which 

 costs but little, and can be carried by the sower with ease. 

 It drops the seed low, and if the sower goes face to the 

 wind at the start the seed is not spread unevenly. AVhen, . 

 in spite of all care, an irregular seeding is anticipated, it 

 is well to sow half the seed one way, and cross the sowing 

 the other way, when vacant spaces may be covered. An 

 inexperienced sower should practice on the snow, using 

 sand, which can be easily seen on the white surface, and 

 in two or three attempts he will be able to make the 

 sowing quite evenly. The sowing should be done as 

 soon as the last harrowing is finished, when the seed 

 sinks in the loose soil or is covered by the first shower. 

 A smoothing plank is a good thihg to cover seed with. 

 It may be eight or ten feet long, and is provided with a 

 tongue and two stiff braces. The tongue is fitted to the 

 plank on the level, so that when it is raised the front end 

 of the plank is elevated a little. This prevents the plank 

 from gathering stones or sods m front of it, and causes 

 it to ride over them. It leaves a smooth even surface. 

 Rolling the land after sowing is sometimes useful and 

 advisable, but is so often injurious that it may be dis- 

 pensed with quite generally. 



Few American farmers know how many varieties of 

 grass and foliage plants are in use in agriculture. Timo- 

 thy and red-top, with red clover, are the first and the 

 last and the whole list in common use upon the majority 

 of farms. Orchard grass is sometimes sow^n by a few of 

 the most progressive farmers, and blue grass, tall oat 

 grass, and meadow fescue are occasionally used in a small 

 way in some localities where they are not indigenous, 

 but grow almost spontaneously. Yet really the kinds of 

 grasses available for farm culture in permanent meadows 

 are quite numerous. An English seedsman's catalogue 



