342 DRY LAND FARMING 



as the Upper Flathead valley where the rainfall is much 

 distributed throughout the year. The seed is usually 

 sown with a seeder of the wheelbarrow type, and covered 

 with the harrow. At other times it is sown with the 

 seeder attachment to the grain drill. Again it is sown 

 on very light and loose soils by mixing it with the grain. 

 On firm soils such burial would be quite too deep. Ordi- 

 narily one inch of a covering will be ample, providing 

 moisture comes thus near to the surface. When sown 

 alone, from 8 to 10 pounds of seed will usually be found 

 ample for an acre. 



Care of the crop. But little can be done by way of 

 caring for the crop after it has been sown. When sown 

 with winter grain and well rooted, it may be quite pos- 

 sible to harrow the grain in the spring without dislodging 

 many of the timothy plants, but this work will have to 

 be done with a prudent caution, as timothy is a shallow 

 rooted plant. To harrow the grain crop when the timo- 

 thy is sown in the spring after the timothy has appeared 

 above ground would mean the destruction of the young 

 plants quite as effectively as it would cause the destruc- 

 tion of weeds. The greatest hazard to the young timo- 

 thy crop comes when the nurse crop is maturing and sub- 

 sequently. The .maturing of the crop draws heavily on 

 soil moisture. This drain, with the warm, dry period that 

 follows, is hazardous to the stand. The hazard is much 

 lessened when the nurse crop is cut for hay soon after 

 the heading stage. 



Harvesting. Timothy is cut with the mower when 

 cut for hay. It is raked when partially cured, and in dry 

 areas the curing is usually completed in the winrows, 

 from which the crop is lifted with forks, by a hay loader 

 or otherwise. It cures readily and quickly. The yields 

 run from about 1 to 2 tons per acre. 



When cut for seed, it is harvested and cured like 

 grain. It is threshed with the ordinary separator from 



