22 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
to bring the soil to a high state of fertility in a few 
years. 
We may summarize the subject of preparation of 
land for grass by saying that it must first be made 
fairly fertile if it is not already so, and that it must be 
plowed deep when in condition to pulverize well, and 
then be thoroughly fined by the harrow. It is then 
ready for the seed. 
SOWING THE SEED 
The importance of good seed can hardly be over- 
estimated. In the chapter on seeds the prevalence of 
poor grass-seed on the markets and some of the rea- 
sons for the same are pointed out. A good many 
failures in seeding down the grasses result from insuf- 
ficient preparation of the land, but many failures result 
also from the use of seed which for one reason or 
another has lost much, or all, of its vitality. This is 
about the only civilized country in the world in which 
there are no laws to protect the farmer against imposi- 
tion on the part of dishonest seedsmen, and honest 
seedsmen find much difficulty in selling high-class 
seed alongside of dead seed, which is offered at a low 
price. A farmer ought always to buy grass-seed far 
enough in advance to enable him to send a sample of 
it to the seed laboratory of his State experiment sta- 
tion, if the station maintains one, or to that of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, which is 
always ready to test such seeds free of charge. If this 
practice were general, bad seed would be less plentiful 
on the market, and there would be fewer failures when 
grasses are sown. ‘The danger from bad seed is much 
