MEADOWS AND PASTURES 29 
robbed them of their scant supply. In no part of the 
country is it a safe plan to use a so-called nurse 
crop for the grasses, except, perhaps, in parts of the 
North, where weeds are liable to take spring seeding. 
In this case a light seeding of oats or barley will tend 
to keep down the weeds, and will not seriously harm 
the grass if the grain is cut for hay while yet green. 
If left to ripen it is liable to do the grass harm. In 
the South a nurse crop should never be used. 
The idea is prevalent that a crop can be gained by 
sowing grain with the grasses. This may be true of 
spring seeding, but it is not true of fallseeding. Fall- 
sown grasses without a nurse crop make their largest 
yield the next summer; with a nurse crop, they usu- 
ally make no hay till the second summer. 
COVERING THE SEED 
Seeds sown on other crops in late winter or early 
spring usually need no covering. At other times a 
light drag-harrow or a brush does the work well. 
Soils that are loose or inclined to be cloddy should be 
rolled after seeding, but the harrow should follow 
immediately after the roller. On clay soils particu- 
larly the roller has a tendency to cause the surface to 
bake and form a hard crust, through which the young 
plants cannot penetrate. A good rain just after seed- 
ing frequently covers the seed sufficiently. It is im- 
portant not to disturb the soil while the seeds are 
germinating, as the little plants are very easily de- 
stroyed at this time. No attempt should therefore be 
made to remedy insufficient covering after the seed 
have begun to germinate. 
