Recently abandoned lan d that is relatively free of cheatgrass does 

 not ordinarily need any preparation before drilling. Russian thistle, 

 lambs quarter, pigweed, etc., do not interfere seriously with establish- 

 ment of seeded grasses. Heavy stands of mustard are a little worse 

 but not as bad as cheatgrass. For fields without much cheatgrass, drill 

 about 3/4 inch deep in the fall without any previous preparation. Such 

 fields should preferably be seeded during the fall following the last 

 harvest because it has been shown that, other things being equal, chances 

 of success by direct seeding become progressively poorer each year after 

 abandonment. 



Cheatgrass- infested abandoned farm land must ordinarily be plowed to 

 reduce the cheatgrass enough to give the reseeded grass a reasonable 

 chance. Cheaper methods of soil preparation have been tried but have not 

 proved dependable for preparing for seeding crested wheatgrass. Plowing 

 is most effective if done in the late fall, winter or early spring after 

 most cheatgrass seed has germinated. A mculdboard plow ordinarily turns 

 the seed-containing litter under more completely than a wheatland or disk 

 plow, and is preferred for that reason, but the other types can be 

 effective if carefully used. Plowing should be deep enough to cover the 

 cheatgrass seed thoroughly. Flowed ground should bo worked down with a 

 spiketooth harrow or roller or both before seeding. Grass seed can be 

 drilled about 3/4 inch deep into the plowed ground. There is logic and 

 some experience to indicate that early spring is the best time to seed 

 on clean, well-prepared seedbeds. Flowing and preparing a good seedbed 

 before drilling is rather expensive, however, and the occasional failures 

 that occur represent considerable loss. 



A method made cheaper by growing a preparatory crop as a step in getting 

 the land ready to seed has been used successfully both experimentally 

 and on a practical scale for four years, 1943 through 1S46, in the 

 Bitterroot Valley. Plowing and soil preparation is done, as described 

 above, but instead of seeding the grass in the plowing a spring cereal 

 crop such as barley, wheat or oats is seeded instead. This crop may be 

 grazed closely, mowed for hay, or in favorable years may produce a crop 

 of grain. The grass seed is then drilled into the stubble in the fall 

 without ether preparation, or if the stubble seems too weedy for direct 

 seeding it may be cultivated and drilled to grass early the next spring. 

 The hay or grain produced by the preparatory crop gives a prompt return 

 to help pay the costs of seedbed preparation and seeding. 



Haying gives better control of competing cheatgrass than cutting the 

 crop for grain, but gives a lower return in favorable seasons. Haying 

 is recommended especially for dry seasons and situations whore the 

 plowing job was none too good. 



-17- 



