«54 SOWING SEED, ETC. 



1810 tlie custom has been to sow in early fall. Many sow grass 

 alone ut tliis time of year and get a full crop the next year. 

 Where grass is sown witli another crop they injure each other. 

 James San<lerson, in Transactions «/ Ih,- Hhjhhind Agrmdtuml 

 iSoctffij, 1S(],3, says: '• If tlie grasses arc rank and luxuriant, they 

 greatly retard the harvesting of grain and frequently deteriorate 

 its value. This early luxuriance is often injurious to the grass 

 itself, as it extracts valual)lc ingredients from the soil. Tlio 

 grain denudes tlie grass of valualj^o food and renders it more 

 susceptible of injury from extremes of weather. The plan of 

 sowing grass seed:.; Avifhout a crop has recently been adopted on 

 several farms of (Jreat Britain witJi great success. Experiments 

 have shown that the profit from the first year's pasture was 

 more than an equivalent for the want of a crop of grain. The 

 next year the lield is lit for pasture a fortnight earlier than it 

 would have been if sown with a crop. The grass gets a better 

 start and makes for several years a better pasture or meadow.'' 



lie mentions the fact that many men who have tried this plan 

 are of the same opinion. The plan of seeding without another 

 (ii-op has here been made ])roniinent, because many persons have 

 scarcely thought of any other wa} than that of seeding to grass 

 with a grain croj). 



Sowiiii? Seed where Grasses alrcjMly Occupy the Lainl.— 

 In tlie Xo'-hern States where the land AViis more or less thickly 

 covered di a growth of sedges and wild grasses, in numerous 

 instances we have seen tills order of things very materially 

 changed by tlie introduction of other species. This was 

 accomplished by simjdy sowing the seeds over the surface. In 

 some cases a harrow i)asslng over the land exposed the soil in 

 small strips and i)atchcs. The change of grasses in such oases is 

 usually rather slow and unsatisfactory, but this is not always the 



case. 



At. the Agricultural College, a good lawn on well prepared soil 



