MANAGEMENT OF MEADOWS 267 



year that the weeds will come up faster than it will, and 

 destroy to a great extent the young grass ; for at the time 

 the mower should run over it to destroy the weeds, the 

 farmer is so busy with the other crops, he neglects to attend 

 to it, until the weeds have greatly injured the grass. But 

 one thing is very essential, let it be sown with whatever 

 it may, it must be in the ground long enough before frosts 

 to take a deep root, or much of it will be destroyed by cold. 

 Clover rnusv, however, in either case, be reserved until 

 Spring, as, when young, it is very sensitive to the effects 

 of cold unless it is sown in August. It is the custom of 

 some farmers to sow clover and other grass seeds, mixed in 

 the last plowing of late corn. Should that course be decid- 

 ed on the corn must be late, and plowed on the level prin- 

 ciple, and the clover sowed after the last plowing. Some 

 crops have succeeded admirably, put in on this plan. But 

 the better plan will be to prepare the ground well, as already 

 stated, and sow the seed, if alone, from the 15th of Septem- 

 ber to the 15th of October; if with a grain crop as soon as 

 it can be put in safely. Wheat is sow n, as a general practice, 

 too late to insure a stand of grass that will resist the winter, 

 and it is therefore better to sow with rye or barley. Let 

 the time of sowing be when it may, the farmer must watch 

 for a season, otherwise the moisture brought up by plowing^ 

 will be sufficient to germinate the seeds, but not to make 

 them live, and even if the moisture is not enough to make 

 them germinate, there may be enough to sprout them, and 

 they will still be destroyed. 



If it is the intention to sow on a stubble, it is better, as 

 soon as possible after harvest, to prepare the land and sow 

 in some of the August seasons, and if sown then the clover 

 sowing may not be deferred, but sown with the other seeds, 

 as they will iiave ample time then to root enough to with- 

 stand the cold of winter. Timothy, or herds grass, sown 

 in September or October alone, will always make a good 

 crop the next summer. 



