WESTERN RYE GRASS. 271 



provinces west from Lake Superior and especially in lo- 

 calities more or less deficient in rainfall. East from 

 Lake Superior, timothy will meet the needs of the farm- 

 er better than western rye grass. 



Soils. — There are but few grasses, if indeed any, 

 which adapt themselves so well to a wide range of soils 

 and soil conditions. As with other grasses, the better 

 the soil the better the crop yields will be, but it will 

 also give fair returns from sands and humus soils, so 

 light as to lift with the winds. It has peculiar adapta- 

 tion for being sown on prairie soils, and its great value 

 on these consists in the comparatively good yields that 

 may be obtained from it, under conditions too dry for 

 the most successful growth of grasses that are more pala- 

 table. It will grow on heavy soils, as well as on those 

 that are light, and will even give good returns on soils 

 so impregnated with alkali that they will not grow a good 

 crop of grain. When grown for a term of years on these, 

 grain crops may then be grown successfully, but much 

 alkali will, of course, prevent the successful growth of 

 either. 



Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil for this 

 grass, it is better usually to plough in the autumn, and 

 then to harrow at intervals in the spring, until the 

 grass is sown about the end of May. By that time 

 many of the weed seeds near the surface have been 

 sprouted. When sown with a nurse crop which is to 

 be harvested, it must, of course, be sown early. On soils 

 that drift, the plan has succeeded well, which ploughs 

 the land, not too early, so as to escape as far as practica- 

 ble the usual season of soil drifting ; to plough somewhat 



