136 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
shallow as may be with a turning-plow. It is then 
gathered up, shaken as free from earth as possible, and 
then cut or torn into small pieces. A single piece 
of stem with a joint in it will start a new growth if 
buried shallow in moist soil. For lawns the pieces 
of sod are usually set by hand about’ a foot apart each 
way ina carefully prepared soil. This is usually done 
in the spring, though it can be done at almost any 
season except when there is danger of freezing weather. 
For pastures much less careful methods will suffice. 
A very good plan is to scatter the pieces of sod in 
standing corn, and cover them at the last cultivation. 
When the soil is wet a barefooted boy, with a sack or 
basket of sod, may drop the pieces of sod and press 
them into the soil with his foot. . 
Another good plan is to scatter pieces of sod in 
every alternate furrow as the land is plowed. The 
thicker they are placed the sooner a stand is secured ; 
but if dropped every eighteen inches or two feet, and 
covered from two to four inches deep, the grass will 
completely cover the land next season. Another plan 
frequently employed is to plow and harrow the land, 
lay off furrows as for planting corn by hand, but with 
the furrows only about two feet apart; drop the sods a 
foot or two apart in these furrows, and cover by means 
of a harrow or drag. In regions where it is safe to sow 
oats in spring the sod may be freed from soil and run 
through a feed-cutter. The fragments may then be 
broadcasted along with the oats and harrowedin. The 
grass will make little headway till the oats are cut, but 
will form a good sod by the next spring. 
Many attempts have been made to find some winter- 
