114 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
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The Proper Depth of Covering Grass Seeds. 
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C. L. Flint, Esq., Secretary of the Massachusetts 
Board of Agriculture, in his valuable Report on Grass¬ 
es, gives a table showing the depth of soil in inches 
and fractions of an inch, at which the greatest number 
of seeds germinate; also the depth of soil in inches 
and fractions of an inch, at which only half the seeds 
germinate; and further, the least depth of soil in 
inches and fractions of an inch, at which none of the 
seeds germinated. 
We here only give a list of a few kinds, they being 
the kinds mostly grown in this country. 
Orchard Grass. 0 to £ - f to 1 
Timothy,.. 0 to | . f to 1 
Red Clover,. 0 to | ... 
White Clover. 0 to | ... 
Tall Oat Grass,- I to 5 . 1| to If 4~ 
The foregoing results were obtained by careful ex¬ 
periments. The first column shows that the five kinds 
of seeds germinated as well on the surface of the 
ground, as those that were covered from one-foarth to 
three-fourths of an inch. But it is proper to say that 
the soil used in the experiments to ascertain the pro¬ 
per depth of covering, was kept moist during the pro¬ 
cess of germination, though freely exposed to the light, 
which accounts for the large number of seeds germi¬ 
nated without any covering whatever. 
Only one half of the several kinds of seeds germi¬ 
nated when covered at the depths specified in column 
second ; and none of the seeds germinated when cov¬ 
ered at the depths specified in the third column. The 
above statements will doubtless surprise many farmers. 
We have time and again known farmers to sow their 
grass seeds at the same time they sowed their grain, 
and then with a heavy harrow, go over the ground 
from two to four times. Such a process must bury 
much of the seed too deep to vegetate, if there is any 
truth in the figures we have given. 
Mr. F. also gives the number of seeds in a bushel of 
red top seed ;• also in a peck of timothy, and in four 
pounds of clover seed. The above named quantities of 
seeds are used by many farmers in stocking down an 
acre of land to grass. Other farmers frequently use, 
in addition to the bushel of red top, a large -quantity 
of timothy and clover. 
Now it has been ascertained by carefully counting 
the seeds in an ounce of the three kinds of seeds, how 
many there are in a pound or a bushel. From this 
data it has been ascertained, that the farmer that sows 
upon an acre of land one bushel of red top, one peck 
of timothy, and four pounds of clover, puts upon his 
acre no less than §5,868,000 seeds. This gives over 15 
seeds to the square inch, or about 2,200 seeds to the 
square foot What farmer ever gets such a number of 
grass plants upon a square inch or foot of his newly 
stocked down field ? 
From many years observation, and some recent ex¬ 
periments, we are led to believe that not much less 
than half the grass seed sown by many farmers fails 
to germinate in consequence of being “covered too 
deep.” 
We have frequently seen farmers sowing their grain 
and grass seeds upon the furrow, and then cross har¬ 
row, for the express purpose of burying the seeds deep, 
from the mistaken idea that there was no danger of 
covering the “minute seed” too deep for vegetating. 
We have known others to only once pass the harrow 
over the furrows, then sow their grain and grass seeds, 
and then finish off” by going over the ground twice 
with the cultivator. But according to the table of 
depths of covering grass seeds, it seems that the seeds 
of timothy, clover and white clover fail to germinate 
when covered at the depth of two inches—where the 
cultivator is used for covering the seeds, it is very pro¬ 
bable that a large portion of them get buried two in¬ 
ches or more ; if so, then they fail to vegetate. 
Some defer sowing the grassr seeds till they have done 
using the harrow - T then sow the seeds, and go over the 
land with a “brush harrow’'—but the brush harrow 
sometimes draws the surface soil and seeds too much 
into ridges. 
Some may ask, if there is so much danger of cover¬ 
ing grass seeds too deep, what is the remedy ? Will it 
do to sow them upon the surface of the ground, and 
leave the seeds to their fate ? Without answering the 
above questions direct, we will give the results of sev¬ 
eral experiments we have recently made in sowing 
grass seeds. 
In November, 1856, we sowed a small piece of land 
with winter rye; after harrowing in the rye, sowed at 
the rate of one peck of timothy seed per acre ; intend¬ 
ed to have rolled the ground the next day, but that 
proved rainy; nothing farther was done with the field 
till last April, when we sowed about six pounds of clover 
seed per acre. The result was, a fair crop of rye, and 
about the “thickest catch” of grass we ever had. 
Last spring sowed two acres, a part with wheat, the 
balance with oats; after having done using the harrow, 
sowed clover and timothy seed, and finished off with a 
heavy roller. We have seldom seen a better catch of 
grass, it being as good 1 among the oats as with the 
wheat. Early in September last, sowed two fields with 
winter wheat; after the grain was sown and the ground 
thoroughly harrowed, sowed timothy seed. One piece 
of the ground was rolled after the grass seeds were 
sown ; the other was not rolled; in a few days after, 
the grain and grass came up, and a thicker stand of 
grass plants we never saw ; have no doubt there was 
twice the number of seeds vegetated that would had 
we harrowed the ground two or three times over, after 
the grass seeds were sown. 
The past season was unusually wet, and there was 
generally a good catch of grass. But wet or dry, for 
the future, we shall not harrow in our grass seeds; 
shall sow and then use the roller. If any of our read¬ 
ers have doubts in reference to this matter, will they 
give the thing an experimental trial the coming spring? 
Sow a portion of the seeds with the grain on a part of 
a field, and' then drag or harrow the ground over two 
or three times. On the other part of the field, defer 
sowing the grass seeds till after all harrowing is dene; 
then sow the grass seeds and roll the whole field alike, 
and carefully note the results; and after harvest, re¬ 
port your success or failure, in either or both cases, for 
publication in the columns of the Country Gentleman. 
-»-<»-•- 
To Coolc Mice. 
I prepare a dish which is preferred tc- the richest rice 
pudding, and which is certainly for more wholesome, 
according to the following simple recipe 1 — 
Slowly simmer the rice in milk three or four hours, 
or till the grains burst and absorb the milk; add a lit 
tie sugar, put the whole into a wide dish, and bake till 
slightly brown. Eat it with milk or butter. L. II. J. 
