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reason that the season of maturity of these grasses is very different ; the clover should x 
be cut about the 15th of June whilé in blossom, the Herd’s grass about July 1, and 
the redtop about July 15. When they are mixed it will be impossible to cut them 
all in perfection; and if the Herd’s grass is cut too early in dry weather it is almost — 
sure to be killed out. 
Mr. T. C. Alvord, of Vermont, writes in the Boston Cultivator as fol- 
lows: 
For a number of years past I have sown grass seed only in the spring. On such 
lands as I wish to seed down without grain I fit my land in the fall if I can, as that 
saves valuable time in the spring; but if I do not have time to perform the work in 
the fall, I fit the land as early as I can in the spring, sowing the seedthen. Onalllands 
that I seed down I finish working the land before the seed is sown, never covering 
the seed. I think where grass seed is harrowed, raked, or brushed in much of the 
seed is covered so deep that it never comes up. 
Many people think that grass seed sown in the spring will not make a good crop of 
hay the first season, and that it requires two seasons to do it. This is anerror. On 
all the lands that I have sown with grass seed in the spring the grass has been ripe 
enough to cut in from ten to twelve weeks from the time the seed was sown, while I 
invariably get better crops than Ido when Iseed down with grain. If the grain lodges 
it will kill the grass, and if the weather is dry the grass will dry up, while in both 
' cases the land will need reseeding; also weeds and foul grasses will occupythe soil. 
If grass seed is sown by itself in the spring it will generally get so good a start that 
no ordinary dry or hot weather in the summer will injure the crop. When seeding 
land in this way a sufficient quantity of seed should be sown, so that if it all grows 
the Jand will be all occupied with grass, thus preventing the growth of weeds, also 
giving a large yield with a better quality of grass, while forming a thicker turf to 
be turned under for the enrichment of the soil when the land is again plowed. 
On all lands which I have seeded in this way the first crop of hay has averaged 
two tons per acre. 
Reseeding Old and Worn-out Meadows.—We have already stated that all - 
wet lands with a clay subsoil should be subjected to a system of tile 
drainage, but in some cases a temporary substitute may be found in a 
certain manner of plowing, as is detailed in the following communica- 
tion from a correspondent of the American Cultivator : 
I will state my experience, in brief, on cold, wet, swale-land that was ence a black- 
ash swamp. The grass was so light and wild it did not pay for cutting. Immedi- 
ately after haying I plowed it in deep wide furrows, being sure to lap them and turn 
flat over. I took pains to make dead furrows where they should be, and also a clear 
outlet at the lower end of the furrows. I harrowed lightly with a fine harrow, and 
went over the field with a hoe and fixed the loose sod, and top-dressed with a light 
coat of manure and gravelly loam scraped up in the milking yard, and sowed on a 
mixture of redtop, timothy, and English flat turnip seed, then brushed lightly. 
Now for results: In the first place, I harvested turnips enough from the piece to pay 
for the labor of plowing and fitting the piece, and the next harvest I cut the heaviest 
burden of hay from that land that I ever saw on any meadow; it was waist-Ligh and 
very thick. I accounted for it in this way, the land was thoroughly drained by the 
spaces left between the furrows, and the decaying sod provided a rich, warm seed- 
bed above the cold, wet, hard-pan, a portion of which had been brought to the sur-— 
face by the deep plowing. Of course a roller wonld not have been tolerated on the 
piece, as it would have been detrimental to the best results. I wanted to get the 
land up and keep it up as long as I could, and let it breathe by leaving space for air 
to pass in under and come up through; and I believe that if such land was plowed 
in that way clear up to freezing time and seeded then or left until early spring, when 
clover seed could be added, most excellent results would follow. 
ress 
