MIXED MEADOWS 203 
may be applied broadcast at the rate of 200 to 
300 pounds per acre. This will stimulate and 
strengthen any weak plants, and provide all plants 
with the nitrates, so essential at this season of the 
year. 
To ensure a large second crop of forage, imme- 
diately after the first crop is removed a further 
application of the top-dresser formula should be 
made, and at the same rate. It must be remem- 
bered that if a rapid and large growth of succulent 
food is to be secured, the plants must he abun- 
dantly supplied with all the essential constituent 
elements; and since the crop is one that does not 
have to be reseeded annually, a very considerable 
increase in the cost of the fertilizer may be allowed 
in lieu of the preparation and re-seeding that would 
be necessary if not abundantly fed and if weeds 
and foreign growths had encroached. 
While the amount of fertilizer recommended 
may seem large to the farmer accustomed to 
extensive practice, trials at a number of Experi- 
ment Stations, notably, Rhode Island (Bulletin 
No. 99, “A Six-Year Rotation of Crops”), and 
the experience of growers, notably George E. 
Clark, Higganum, Conn., show that if large yields 
of hay or forage (from four to six tons of the former 
per acre per year) are to be secured, this liberal 
use of fertilizers is desirable, for the profits are 
greater. The Rhode Island Experiment Station 
