162 



THE HAY GRASSES 



Sowing the Seed. -- Timothy should be grown in a four- 

 year or five-year rotation, in which the plan is to get a hay 

 crop in the third year and another in the fourth year. It 

 is usually sown in connection with clover, using about 

 four quarts of clover seed and three quarts of timothy seed 

 per acre. This mixture is sown with barley, oats, or wheat 



as a nurse crop. If the seasons are 



favorable, the first year after seeding 

 two cuttings of clover hay can be se- 

 cured, and a crop of timothy for hay 

 or seed can be obtained the next year. 

 The third year a crop of hay can be 

 harvested or the field can be pastured. 

 If the field is left to timothy for two 

 years, the fifth year the ground should 

 be plowed and planted in corn, pota- 

 toes, peas, or beans. The land should 

 be heavily manured if run to timothy 

 two years, as the timothy crop makes 

 a heavy draft on soil fertility. It is 

 much better practice to grow timothy 

 in a four-year rotation in which only 

 one crop of hay or seed is taken in the 

 Fig.88.-A"tLthy P iant four-year period. The usual practice 



at the cutting stage. j g to SQW the geed J n the spr i ng) but it 



may be sown in the fall with wheat or rye. If sown quite 

 early in the fall, it usually withstands the winters and the 

 clover can be sown on the growing crop in early spring. 

 A grass seeder attachment to a grain drill or a broadcast 

 seeder is commonly used for grass seeding where the ground 

 is in proper condition for the use of farm machinery. On 

 newly cleared and rocky lands a hand or wheelbarrow seeder 



