MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



A fine, firm seed-bed is necessary, and the sub-sur- 

 face must be compact to ensure the upward passage 

 of moisture. This point will bear emphasis, many 

 failures occuring from not having the seed-bed 

 sufficiently compact. 



MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



439 



Fig. 667. Siz-tine grapple fork witli spear. Open. 



If sown in fall it is usually advisable to sow not 

 later than September 1. Spring sowing should be 

 done as early as the ground will permit. Glover is 

 usually sown in spring when the snow is still on 

 the ground. This is a good practice because it is 

 found that clovers germinate best under the low 

 and steady temperature which is then maintained. 

 Kentucky blue -grass, however, germinates best 

 when subjected to a temperature alternating be- 

 tween 68° and 86° F.; hence, if it is sown in fall, 

 on or near the surface, these conditions are secured. 

 Thus each kind of grass has a certain temperature 

 or range of temperatures which are best suited for 

 its germination. 



Under ordinary circumstances and with tempo- 

 rary seedage, the sowing of the grass with a grain 

 crop is advisable because it economizes the use of 

 the land. It is well to mow the grass early the first 

 year, even if it is to be used as a pasture. This 

 prevents the grasses going to seed and thus weak- 

 ening themselves. It may not be advisable to seed 

 with a grain crop when an expensive seed mixture 

 is used in seeding permanently, when the land is 

 very rich — the grain crop would lodge — nor when 

 it is so poor in condition that it could not carry 

 both crops. 



Number and weight of grass seeds and amount to sow. 



It is hardly possible to give the exact formulse 

 for seeding land to grass. The following notes are 

 merely suggestive and may need modification to 

 meet varying conditions. As already stated, various 

 authorities have asserted that 10,000,000 to 20,- 

 000,000 viable grass and clover seeds should be 

 sown per acre, the lesser quantity when the clovers 

 constitute a large proportion of the seed mixture 

 or the land is seeded for but one or two years, and 

 the larger quantity for permanent grass-land. The 

 following table has been adapted from "The Best 

 Forage Plants," by Stebler and Schroeter, and from 

 it calculations may be made. The actual number of 

 grains in a pound will frequently vary 20 per cent 

 either way ; for example, in recleaned fancy seed 

 there are fewer grains to the pound, while in an 

 uncleaned sample free 

 from chaff, but containing 

 many small seeds, the 

 number will be greater. 

 The recleaned seed weighs 

 heavier per bushel. The 

 uncleaned seed may con- 

 tain a large proportion of 

 chaff and in such case 

 the number of seeds per 

 pound of material may be 

 very low. The numbers 

 given are per pound of 

 pure seed. The percentage 

 of germination of average 

 samples of seed is fre- 

 quently but half, and even 

 less than half, of that 

 given in the table. The 

 germination of the rye 

 grasses given in the table 

 is a little higher than ordinarily found in the United 

 States, even with imported seed. Low germinating 

 power may be due to lack of uniformity in ripening 

 the seed ; to part of the seed on a plant being 

 mature before the remainder, frequently seen in 

 meadow foxtail ; or to poor methods of harvesting, 

 as in Kentucky blue-grass. 



V 

 harpoon 

 fork, with twenty-flve- 

 inch tine. Closed. 



Double 



