44-i 



MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



front of the grain hoes so that it will be covered 

 by the drill ; others allow it to fall behind the 

 drill hoes, either covering the seed later by means 

 of a light harrowing or brushing of the land 

 or leaving it to be finally covered by rain. The 

 quantity of timothy seed usually sown under such 

 circumstances varies from four to twenty pounds 



Fig. 671. Red clover. 



per acre, although few farmers sow less than eight 

 or more than sixteen pounds. One peck (eleven 

 pounds) is perhaps about the average. 



The clover is added in the spring. There are two 

 general methods of sowing the clover. In the east- 

 ern two-thirds of the timothy belt and rather gen- 

 erally in the western third, it is customary to sow 

 the clover seed in late winter or early spring, usu- 

 ally in February or early in March, either on light 

 snow or at a time when the ground is lightly 

 frozen and cracked "honey-comb" fashion, leaving 

 the seed to be covered by natural processes. This 

 method has been fairly satisfactory, though it is 

 thought not to be as reliable as the following. In 

 the western third of the timothy region the better 

 class of farmers wait until the ground is in condi- 

 tion to harrow before sowing clover. The seed is 

 then sown and the ground harrowed. 



The quantity of clover seed sown on timothy and 

 wheat in the spring in this manner is, generally 

 speaking, about the same (by weight) as the 

 quantity of timothy seed sown in the fall. Some 

 farmers sow more clover than timothy per acre ; 

 others sow less. The average quantity sown is prob- 

 ably about twelve pounds per acre. This is six 

 quarts of clover seed, while it would require a 

 little more than eight quarts of timothy seed to 

 weigh twelve pounds. 



Because of the prevalence of the idea that timo- 

 thy must be sown in the fall with grain, less timo- 

 thy is grown than formerly in some of the best 

 agricultural sections of the West where wheat has 

 been largely abandoned. It has been shown in 

 recent years by the practice of some of the most 

 successful farmers in the country that, except 

 along the western edge of the timothy region, one 

 of the most satisfactory practices is to sow timothy 

 and clover together on well-prepared land in late 

 summer (not early fall), though some farmers 

 sow as late as the middle of September. This is 

 considered late sowing by farmers who practice 

 this method. When sown thus without a nurse- 

 crop, a full crop of hay is produced the next year, 

 while if sown as first above outlined, a crop of 

 hay is not taken until the second summer. In the 

 western edge of the timothy region this method 

 has not been found to be entirely satisfactory. 

 There is too much danger of severe drought in late 

 summer. In that section a few progressive farmers 

 have found that clover at least may be sown in 

 corn at the last cultivation, and that a good stand 

 can be assured by this method with perhaps more 

 certainty than with any other method. In some in- 

 stances in southwestern Missouri, the better class 

 of farmers sow timothy alone in the early fall and 

 add the clover in the spring after the land is in 

 condition to harrow. This method has proved very 

 satisfactory where it has been tried, furnishing a 

 moderate crop of hay the first year. 



It is known that timothy may be added to a 

 clover sod at any time by sowing the timothy in 

 the early fall and harrowing it in. Likewise, clover 

 may be added to a timothy sod at any time by 

 sowing it fairly early in the spring and harrowing 

 the sod. As already stated, timothy and clover are 

 sown very generally in corn at the last cultivation 

 in New England, with excellent results. In that 

 section corn is grown mostly for silage. This 

 leaves short corn stubble, which is harvested with 

 the hay the first year ; but since on good farms 

 this hay is fed on the place, the corn stubble is not 

 very objectionable, as it makes a convenient bed- 

 ding when left in the feed-racks by the cattle. 

 [See Clover.] 



Other meadow ingredients. 



Red-top. (Pig. 538.) In some parts of the 

 timothy region red-top is frequently sown in the 

 mixture. This is particularly true in New England, 

 New York and Pennsylvania. Occasionally it re- 

 places timothy entirely, for instance in a consider- 

 able section of poorly drained prairie land in 

 southern Illinois, where most of the red-top seed of 



