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Establishing a woodland border with 
lespedeza plants. 
(measured an inch or two above the 
root crown) is below 14¢ inch; medium 
if 4 to % inch; and large if above 
Y% inch. 
Seeding.—Prepare the  seedbed 
well. Use scarified seed. If you plant 
in rows, place 20 to 30 seeds per foot in 
shallow furrows spaced as you wish 
from as little as 12 inches to as much 
as 3% feet apart. Cover the seed 
about '% inch deep (1 inch in sandy 
soil). For broadcast planting, be care- 
ful to sow evenly over the edges as well 
as down the center of the strip. A 
cultipacker is very helpful on broad- 
cast seedings, as a firm seedbed is al- 
ways best. Seed when the ground 
moisture is good and soon after the 
danger of killing frost is past in the 
spring. Never seed in dry soil. 
Fertilizing.—Apply fertilizer before 
or at the time of planting or seeding. 
The amount needed depends on the 
fertility of the land you are planting. 
A liberal amount (400 to 800 pounds 
per acre) assures vigorous, rapid 
growth and high seed production. 
Like all legumes, lespedeza responds 
best to potash and phosphates. An 
0-12-12 or similar fertilizer is good. 
A fertilizer with a little nitrogen, such 
as 3-12-12, is better for sandy soils. 
Maintenance.—To guarantee ade- 
quate food for a covey of birds on only 
Ye acre of land, you must take good 
care of the lespedeza plantings. 
Row plantings should be cultivated 
two or three times the first year to 
destroy competing vegetation. Broad- 
cast plantings must be left to struggle 
through the weeds and grass. No cul- 
tivation is needed the second year, or 
thereafter. 
The first year’s growth from shrub 
lespedeza seed, or even plants, may be 
disappointing. Don’t destroy it. The 
planting will get better the second 
year—and still better the third. If it 
lacks pleasing growth the second year 
or thereafter, fertilize it. 
Should it decline in vigor after once 
making good growth and a good seed 
crop, fertilize it again, using 400 to 800 
pounds per acre of 0-12-12 or similar » 
fertilizer. ‘The fertilizer can be broad- 
cast by hand, without cultivation into 
the soil, in winter or early spring. 
A rotary power-driven mower is a 
good machine to use for cutting 
bicolor lespedeza back to the ground 
in winter. 
aye ee 
SS 
SSS 
Seeding a lespedeza border for wild- 
life between crop and woodland. 
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