Auffust 17 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
562 
G/iASS SEEDED WITHOUT GRAIN. 
The “Clark” System ot Grass Culture. 
Part III. 
Why not use manure for the grass? 
Some farmers do, and it must be said that th«'y 
raise good crops of grass when the manure is plowed 
or harrowed in and well mixed with the soil. Mr. 
Clark objects to manure for grass, and stoutly ad¬ 
vises chemicals for this crop. He would use manure 
only on a cultivated crop that is to precede grass. 
When does he seed? 
As soon after September 1 as the ground and wea¬ 
ther are fit. There is not much use in putting fine 
seed into perfectly dry dust, for it will not sprout. 
If possible the seed might well be sown just before 
a gentle rain. That would make nearly ideal condi¬ 
tions for grass. The best time for sowing grass seed 
is at the natural season—that is, when the plant, left 
to itself, would maiure and drop its seed. With Tim¬ 
othy, that would be in late August or early Septem¬ 
ber, so that this time is about right if we would imi¬ 
tate nature. 
Mr. Clark, we understand, does not use small grains 
in seeding. 
No—he believes in sowing to grass alone. 
Is not that contrary to the usual practice of most 
farmers? 
Yes, for the greater part of grass seed is put in with 
wheat, rye or oats. It is argued that the little grass 
plants need a “nurse” crop in order to protect them 
from the freezing of the cold Winter and the heat of 
the first Spring. 
What arguments does Mr. Clark put up against 
that? 
At least a dozen good ones. He says that grass is 
the toughest and most enduring plant in the world. 
It will live and thrive if you give it a chance. It does 
not need any “nurse”; in fact, the growing and feed¬ 
ing habits of small grain and grass are quite distinct, 
so that when put together the grain will be more 
likely to take advantage of the grass than to “nurse” 
it. The space occupied by the grain plants will rep¬ 
resent nearly one-third of the surface of the field, 
and when the grain is harvested these spaces are 
left bare, for the grass does not spread and cover 
them. Thus we lose the use of a good proportion of 
the ground. When the grass seed is used alone as 
Mr. Clark uses it, every square inch of the soil is 
covered with grass. Thus the entire field is utilized, 
it is possible to produce more grass per acre, and 
weeds and foul trash are less likely to work in. I 
have noticed this in my own fields. On the fields 
seeded after the Clark method there are comparative¬ 
ly few weeds, most of those which appear being deep 
rooted, with life below the reach of the Acme harrow. 
Following the grain-seeded fields there are always 
more weeds, which mostly start in the bare places 
left when the grain is cut. Mr. Clark claims, and I 
think with much reason, that it will usually pay bet¬ 
ter to grow a crop of grain alone, if grain is desired, 
and then work up the ground again and sow grass 
alone. This will give a crop each of grain and grass 
in two years with a better chance for each. 
Is that true of all situations? 
I do not think so. On light and level ground, or 
where the farmer does not have other crops to han¬ 
dle, the extra plowing and fitting will probably pay. 
There are some situations where this extra Fall 
plowing would hardly be possible. On tough, hilly 
soil, or in the class of farming which demands a great 
deal of extra work in August and September, the 
extra plowing and harrowing might cost more than 
the extra grass would be worth. This wet season 
would not permit us to work our soil properly. I can 
readily see that there may be cases where the Clark 
method would not be practicable. I think, however, 
that where the ground is suitable and the farmer has 
time and tools with which to fit the ground, and 
money to spend for fertilizers, this system is the right 
one for producing a large crop of grass. 
But it must require more seed than when grain is 
sown. 
It does—this heavy seeding is one point on which 
Mr. Clark lays great stress. When sowing with grain 
many farmers use only six or eight quarts of Tim¬ 
othy seed per acre, with about the same quantity of 
Red clover seed in the Spring. Very few of them, I 
think, ever use Red-top seed with the Timothy. Mr. 
Clark advises the use of 14 quarts each of Timothy 
and Red-top seed, and he makes a feature of putting 
this seed on a little at a time, so as to have it scat¬ 
tered evenly. After it is sciattered he works the 
ground several times in different directions, so as 
still further to scatter and distribute the seed. One 
thing that is sometimes neglected is the surface of 
the field before seeding. Some farmers put the seed 
on the rough furrows or on the little ridges left by 
Cutaway or spring-tooth. This is a mistake, for the 
seed will settle into the little hollows, and cannot 
be scattered evenly with any tool—-as wheat, oats or 
rye can be. Before seeding it pays to run over the 
ground with weeder, fine-tooth harrow or brush drag, 
TO as to get a level surface. 
Why does Mr. Clark sow Red-top? 
He says it will add from a ton to a ton and a half 
of hay per acre, which could not be obtained in any 
other way. The Red-top is a slender grass which will 
crowd in among the Timothy. It also helps out the 
stand as the meadow grows older. A field of pure 
Timothy runs out after a few years, but with a heavy 
seeding of Red-top the latter comes in more and more 
and keeps out the weeds and foul stuff. It must be 
remembered that this “Clark” method of seeding is 
intended to make a permanent meadow—that is, one 
that will cut good grass for a good many years—not 
one to serve in a rotation and be plowed in two or 
three seasons. h. w. c. 
MORE ABOUT CRANBERRY CULTURE. 
Uses of Land; Meadows. 
In previous articles about cranberry culture, I have 
tried to describe in plain language the process of 
building jl cranberry bog. To the prospective cranberry 
grower of limited means, who cannot affoid to pay 
for the services of an expert, I would say go slowly. 
Read carefully the articles that have appeared in The 
R. N.-Y., and then if you are not exactly sure you can 
grow them at a profit, experiment a little. Put in a 
rod or two of bog according to directions, and watch 
it for a season or two. If it looks promising, try some 
more, and by your experience you will learn some¬ 
thing about the business. Many a good swamp has 
been spoiled in the making, and the owners have lost 
money where they should have made it. 
We have read much about people converting swamp 
land into valuable meadow land, but in most cases it 
would be far more valuable if it were properly made 
THE LINDENWALD STRAWBERRY. Fig. 246. 
into cranberry bog. The old way of building cran¬ 
berry bogs was to get them done with as littie ex¬ 
pense as possible and then harvest the crop, if there 
was any, by hand. But in cranberry bogs as well as 
in other things, the old order changeth, and to-day 
bogs are made to suiit the new method of harvesting. 
In this new method of building a bog, sand plays a 
most important part. The uses of sand on a bog are 
not fully understood by everyone, and I have been 
asked many questions in regard to it. It is used not 
only to keep down the weeds, but also to keep the 
vines from growing too rank. It also serves to keep 
the sun from drying up the moisture in the bottom, 
and at the same time gives a dry surface to work on. 
A correspondent from Maine asks the following ques¬ 
tions about sand; 
How far does it pay to haul sand to prepare a bog? 
An acre of good bog properly cared for will produce 
an average yearly yield of 100 barrels of fruit; and in 
view of this fact it seems as though one .•ouM affo: d 
to go quite a distance. A bog of 200 acres was pre¬ 
pared under my supervision in Lower Canada, where 
the sand was hauled 20 miles on fiat cars. It was not 
necessary to go so far to get it, but the cost of open¬ 
ing sand pits near the bog was greater than hauling 
it on cars from a cut in the railroad where the sand 
was of good quality and handy to load. 
How can I test sand to see whether it is free from 
injurious substances? 
■Sand is liable to contain lime or “alkali,” either of 
which is very injurious, if not fatal to cranberry 
vines. An expert could instantly detect the presence 
of either, but a simple way to test it to see whether 
it contains lime is to wet a small quantity and let it 
dry in the sun. If it cakes up there is lime in it, and 
it should not be used. To test for “alkali,” put a 
tablespooufui of sand in a dipper of drinking water, 
stir it well, and when it settles, taste some of the 
water. If there is any alkali there, it can be easily 
detected. In the Eastern States, there is not much 
danger of finding anything injurious in sand except 
a mixture of clay or loam. Under no circumstances 
should clay be put on a bog. 
If sand contains a trace of loam, could it not be 
washed and so made suitable? 
For just a trace of loam, it would scarcely pay to 
go to the expense of washing it, as it would hardly 
do much damage to the bog except to promote the 
growth of weeds. It would be easier to pull out the 
weeds until the vines covered the surface of the bog 
than it would be to wash the sand. If the sand con¬ 
tains much loam it is not fit for use, for even if the 
weeds were kept out, the vines would grow too rank. 
Describe a good arrangement for washing sand 
where running water from a stream is available. 
If the sand was thrown through a coarse screen 
into running water the loam would probably be wash¬ 
ed away, leaving the sand to settle on the bottom. It 
would also take out the stones in it. We are not sure, 
however, that it would pay to wash it for a bog of 
any size. It seems as though sand ought to be found 
in any locality entirely free from loam if one dug 
deep enough. 
How many cords of sand does it take to sand one 
acre of bog? 
In ordinary cases sand should be put on at least 
three inches deep. At this rate it would take 85 cords 
to sand an acre of bog. The same correspondent also 
asks how deep a bog should be fiowed in Winter in 
his locality (Maine). It should be fiowed deep enough 
so that ice cannot form among the vines. This rule 
will apply to any locality. 
A correspondent from Connecticut asks about mak¬ 
ing swamp meadow land into cranberry bog. My ex¬ 
perience has been that any piece of land that is well 
rooted with gra.ss makes very poor bog unless the 
grass roots can be entirely eliminated. It will not 
do simply to turn the grass sods upside down and 
sand over them. The grass must be entirely killed 
out, and this is a very expensive thing to do, as any¬ 
one knows who has tried to do it. We know of 
swamps where wild cranberry vines were growing 
among the grass, and the owners thought that it 
would be a good place for cultivated berries, but it 
was not. The old grass came up through the sand, 
and in a year or two it was the same as before. The 
more wood there is on a swamp the better bog it 
makes. Of course it is more expensive to make it 
into a bog, but it pays in the end. A man from New 
York writes about a three-acre piece of peat bottom 
swamp where the peat was dug out 30 years ago, and 
has since filled up again. He wishes to know whether 
it will make good bog. If the swamp can be prop¬ 
erly drained and has enough peat left to make a 
bottom with an average depth of 12 inches or more 
we think it would. At any rate, it would do no harm 
to experiment a little and see if it looks promising 
at the end of a year. r. a. makepeace. 
Massachusetts. 
WHAT THE " CORN BREEDERS" ARE DOING. 
As some of our readers doubtless know, there is an 
organization in Illinois known as the Corn Breeders’ As¬ 
sociation. Its object is to Improve tlie varieties of corn 
now in cultivation. This is to be done by selecting the 
best ears for seed purposes—making a standard and 
picking out ears as close to this as possible. The poorer 
plants are cut out, or the tassels are cut from them, so 
that only the finest specimens will be left for pollenizing. 
The following notes show what is being done this year: 
We are more interested In the drought question 
than most men, having planted corn selected to a 
point nearly filling the revised score card of the Corn 
Growers’ Association, and of high value as demon¬ 
strated by a chemical analysis of each and every ear, 
on ground especially prepared for developing a high 
grade of corn. We have- given it thorough cultiva¬ 
tion, and are watching the effect of this long siege 
of hot weather (with lack of moisture) upon it. In 
the meantime we are removing the tassels from all 
barren or inferior stalks, and are trying to agree upon 
some plan of seed houses in which the corn may be 
wintered in such a way that every grain may grow 
next year. Detasseling is important, because corn 
cannot be perfect if fertilized from pollen of barren 
or imperfect stalks. Fortunately, nature has provided 
pollen in abundance and to spare, and if one-third of 
all tassels are destroyed no harm will result to the 
crop. When all the points of breeding corn are as 
carefully studied and as long practiced as have been 
the points in stock breeding, the results will be as 
great. Our labor in advancing the breeding of corn 
may be nearly lost this year, by this drought, but be 
assured that the Ckirn Breeders will not give up 
beaten because of discouragements, e. e. Chester. 
Champaign, Ill. 
All of the members of our Association are engaged 
in the breeding of corn more or less as they can spare 
the ground and time. Breeding seed has been selected 
