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 fall seeding. Fall- 

 sown grasses without a nurse crop make their largest 

 yield the next summer; with a nurse crop, they usu- 

 ally make no haj^ till the second summer. 



COVERING THE SEED 



Seeds sown on other crops in late winter or eariy 

 spring usually need no covering. At other times & 

 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. 



