12 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



SEEDING LAUD TO GRASS. 



We propose to prepare one or two articles upon 

 this subject. Its importance is attested in the 

 fact that the grass crop in the New England States, 

 for the year 1862, as near as we have the means 

 at hand to ascertain, was nearly one hundred mil- 

 lions of dollars ! 



The practice of seeding down land to grass with 

 a grain crop is universal in New England — that 

 is, of sowing grass seed at the same time of sow- 

 ing a crop of oats, barley, or other grain, and lev- 

 elling and smoothing the ground in^brder to pre- 

 pare it for mowing. Universal, however, as this 

 practice is, the precise reasons for it have rarely 

 been inquired into, or given. We have no recol- 

 lection of ever seeing it treated in books or in 

 newspapers, — but the principles which are appli- 

 cable are frequently advanced by some of the best 

 agricultural writers in this and other countries. 



Last winter, during a discussion in which we 

 took a part, upon the best modes of seeding land 

 to grass, we made the remark that "the grain crop 

 might, in some measure, protect the young grass, 

 and give it an opportunity to escape drought, if it 

 should ensue." This idea was objected to with 

 considerable earnestness, — one person desiring to 

 "enter his solemn protest against any shade 

 theory." 



Let us examine this point with candor and care, 

 and try to learn whether the uninterrupted solar 

 rays are always friendly to young grass plants, 

 or, as in the case of many other plants which we 

 are obliged to protect, they are not sometimes 

 extremely hurtful. The question is not, what 

 course of culture will produce the largest crops of 

 grass, but, simply, what circumstances will best 

 promote the germination of grass seed, and its 

 early growth. 



In the first place, all grain sown with grass 

 seed — if the grass crop is the object sought — 

 should be cut green — not allowed to seed— which 

 leaves the surface free for the grass after it has 

 got fairly rooted, and will not exhaust the soil as 

 it would if allowed to mature its seed. 



Secondly, oats or barley, start quick, — partially 

 cover the surface, and thus prevent a large amount 

 of evaporation, keeping moisture in store for them- 

 selves and the young grass, by absorbing it from 

 the air, as well as exhausting it from the soil, — 

 for the plants are living and breathing organisms, 

 and a mutual action is continually going on be- 

 tween them and the soil. "They are first fed by 

 the food which the root procures from the earth, 

 and a part of the nutritive matter which is stored 

 up in the seed-leaves. They feed especially upon 

 the latter until the store is exhausted, and by the 

 time this happens, they are clothed with leaves 

 which are themselves able to feed tlievi after the 

 seed-leaves have perished." This is the language 



of Prof. Lindley, — than whom there is no high- 

 er authority,— and we cite it to show that the 

 grain plants among the grass receive a large amount 

 of their support from the atmosphere, and conse- 

 quently, do not — in their early growth — exhaust 

 the soil so much as they benefit it by their shade, 

 and the moisture they bring to it from the air. 

 At any rate, not so much as is sometimes supposed. 



Both Hales and Ddhamel — among the very 

 highest authorities — say that branches imbibe 

 moisture equally by either end ; and consequent- 

 ly, the sap moves with equal facility both upwards 

 and downwards. Mr. Bonnet states that "leaves 

 will imbibe enough of water to support the vegeta- 

 tion of a whole branch, and the leaves belonging 

 to it." This does not look as' though the leaves 

 of the grain plants were made merely to rob the 

 soil ! 



To illustrate : If the seeds of the birch, elm, 

 maple or pine, are sown on a piece of plain or un- 

 sheltered land, a large portion of the plants — if 

 they come at all — will perish ; but if one goes to 

 the forest, cuts trees and brush, scrapes away the 

 leaves, stirs the soil, and sows the same kind of 

 seeds there, they will not only come up, but under 

 the genial protection of the surrounding trees and 

 shrubbery, will come and grow and flourish in 

 surprising numbers. This piece of soil in the for- 

 est, although no mulching lies upon it, will be 

 found moist and soft, when the pastures in the 

 vicinity are parched and barren. 



It is the universal practice of the most intelli- 

 gent farmers all over New England to sow some 

 sort of grain with grass seed. It is to be pre- 

 sumed that this is not entirely because they desire 

 the crop of grain, but in the expectation that the 

 grain itself will be, in some degree, a protection 

 to the young and tender grass plants. A very 

 successful farmer states that he invariably sows 

 three bushels of oats per acre with grass seed, 

 and that he secures the best results under this 

 practice, which has been continued through many- 

 years, because a successful practice. Some equal- 

 ly good farmers use a less quantity. 



We sometimes sow grass seed among standing 

 corn, in the month of August, and have never 

 failed of securing good results under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, — but always the most satisfactory 

 where the corn stood the thickest, although on soil 

 of the same quality and in the same position. 

 This mode we recommend as a cheap and success- 

 ful one. 



It is stated that where coffee is raised, it is done 

 under the protection of trees wherever they can be 

 employed ; that although the trees spread their 

 roots far and wide, they are condensers of moisture 

 from the air as well as extractors of it from the 

 soil, and are of essential benefit to the young and 

 tender plants. On the 6ame principle, pasture 



