1922.] Depth of Sowing Grass and Clover Skeds. 133 



seedlings as compared with only 74 per cent, of the red clover 

 seedlings reached the surface in 10 days after sowing ; but when 

 sown at depths of 2 and 3 in. this advantage was more than 

 counterbalanced by the smaller amount of reserve food material 

 contained in the cotyledons of white clovers. This is the prob- 

 able explanation for white clover seedlings failing to reach the 

 surface when sown at these depths. 



Sowing in Wet Weather. — That a fairly satisfactory " take " 

 can be obtained by merely sowing the seeds broadcast on the 

 surface during a prolonged period of wet weather is shown by 

 the following experiment in which the surface soil of one series 

 of pots was maintained in a thoroughly saturated condition while 

 the other series were given normal watering : — 



Saturated. Normal watering. 



Surface sown- Surface. \ in. depth. 

 Percentage germination ... 98 ... 88 ... 97 

 Percentage rooted ... ... 91 ... 67 ... 97 



Conclusions. — (1) White clover seeds should never be left un- 

 covered except during a long spell of wet weather. 



(2) The best results appear to be obtained by covering the 

 seeds to depths of J in. to } in. 



(3) If covered to depths of over an inch only a very small 

 percentage of seedlings may be expected to reach the surface. 



Perennial Rye Grass. — As in the case of the two clovers, rye 

 grass seeds allowed to germinate on the surface generally pro- 

 duced poor stands, much poorer than is indicated by the per- 

 centages of seedlings given in the Table. The germination of. 

 surface sown seeds, especially those sown in boxes and beds, 

 was often delayed for several weeks, consequently the growth 

 was correspondingly uneven and during the early stages many 

 of the seedlings were weak and stunted. The inferiority of sur- 

 face sowings as compared with shallow covering of the seeds is 

 fully confirmed by the weights of green fodder obtained from 

 the different beds; the surface beds gave only 29 per cent, of 

 the yields produced by the J in. beds. 



The best results both as regards the number of surface seed- 

 lings and yields were obtained when the seeds were buried to 

 depths varying from J in. to 1 in. When the seeds were covered 

 to depths of 2 in. about J, to depths of 3 in. about J of the 

 seedlings failed to reach the surface. The yields given at these 

 depths were even poorer, only 21 oz. and 4 oz. of green fodder 

 being obtained from the 2 in. and 3 in. beds respectively as com- 

 pared with 50 oz. given by the 1 in. beds. At these depths the 



