4. LEAFLET 104, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
bed well supphed with moisture and comparatively free from weeds is 
essential to a satisfactory stand. It is generally easy to secure these 
conditions following a crop of corn or after summer fallow. Where 
the moisture supply is more favorable a good seed bed may be pre- 
pared on fall- or spring-plowed grain stubble. The land should be 
worked down well, smoothed with a spike-tooth harrow, and packed, 
if necessary, just before seeding. 
The most favorable time to sow crested wheatgrass varies with 
the locality and the season. The usual practice is to sow in the 
spring at about the time spring wheat is sown, as moisture conditions 
are likely to be most favorable at that time. Where weeds are 
abundant better stands result from seedings made late enough to 
permit 2 or 3 cultivations with a disk harrow, a spring-tooth aaa 
or a duck-foot cultivator before seeding; in this way many of th 
weeds are killed. In most of the region to which the grass Sate 
even delayed seedings ordinarily should be made not later than 
June 1. While spring seedings are much to be preferred, fall seed- 
ings often give good results where moisture conditions are favorable, 
though sometimes such plantings are subject to injury from cold or 
drought or grasshoppers. In parts of eastern Washington fall seed- 
ings have generally proved more satisfactory than spring seedings. 
In this region it 1s generally advisable to drill the seed in grain 
stubble, which tends to check soil- blowing during the winter. In the 
northern Great Plains fall seedings should be made not later than 
the early part of September. 
Crested wheatgrass may be sown in close drills or in rows wide 
enough apart to be cultivated. Where the crop is to be utilized for 
hay or pasture, close drills are preferable, except where the moisture 
supply is very limited. The seed should be sown with a grain drill 
and covered ‘about one half inch (fig. 1). The double disk drill 
is preferable to the single disk drill, as it does not cover so deeply. 
While the seed runs through the drill more freely than seed of most 
other grasses, it 1s advisable to watch closely to see that none of the 
cups or spouts become clogged. 
If grown mainly for seed production, the grass should be sown 
in rows and kept cleanly cultivated, since with a limited moisture 
supply more seed of better quality can be produced in rows than in 
close drills (fig. 2). The seeding may be made in single rows or in 
double rows. In single rows the seed is dr opped from one spout of 
the grain drill, and in double rows from two adjacent spouts which 
are ‘usually 6 or 7 inches apart. The latter method is preferable 
since skips are less likely to occur. The most satisfactory distance 
between rows is 36 to 42 inches for either single or double rows. The 
orass may be grown in rows for hay in areas where the rainfall is 
very limited, ‘put under most conditions close-drill seedings are 
preferable for hay or pasture. Hay preduced in rows is likely to 
contain consider: able dust and dirt, and the increase in yield, if any, 
usually is not sufficient to offset the poorer quality of ‘hay ‘and the 
extra labor involved in keeping the rows cleanly cultivated. 
The usual rate of seeding in close drills is 10 to 12 pounds per 
acre. ‘To seed crested wheatgrass at this rate, the grain drill should 
be set at about one half the rate usual for seeding “wheat, as a trial, 
and then adjusted to seed more or less according to needs. Where the 
wre hy 
