ECONOMIC PLANTS 



227 



Sowing Grass. It is imperative that the soil 

 should be clean, firm, mellow, and moist before the 

 seed is sown for the hay 

 crop; but if hay is grown 

 on land that produced corn 

 or potatoes the year before, 

 the land need be only disked 

 and harrowed, not plowed. 

 The sowing, which is gener- 

 ally broadcast, may be done 

 in early autumn or early 

 spring, the former method 

 producing grass that is bet- 

 ter able to endure summer 

 droughts. 



It is quite common in 

 many sections to sow grass 

 seed with a nurse crop. 

 This may be any one of the 

 cereals. When alfalfa, for 

 instance, is desired as a crop, 

 it is often sown with beard- 

 less barley in the spring. The 

 barley grows more rapidly 

 than the alfalfa, acting as a protector to the delicate 

 alfalfa plants against the extreme heat of the summer 

 and occupying the ground so that early growing weeds 

 will be crowded out. When the barley is in the milk 

 stage, it is cut for hay, and the alfalfa plants then grow 

 thickly in the stubble. 



Mixed Grasses. A few grasses thrive best when 

 planted alone. Among these are alfalfa and western 

 rye grass. Timothy is often grown alone because of 



FIG. 1 1 6. Blue Grass. 



