8 
ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
The topics on the programme were then taken up as follows : 
SEEDING EOR GRASS; THE BEST WAY TO DO IT. 
BY S. N. BAIRD, STERLING, ILL. 
There are no doubt others here better qualified to give information on this sut 
ject than myself; but as I have been placed upon the programme, will give my expt 
rience on seeding for grass. 
It is a well-established fact that in this part of the great West corn and grass ai 
the crops from which we derive the most money. Small grain of most kinds has be 
come very uncertain. A good crop of wheat in this part of the West is almost out c 
the question. Barley, too, is very uncertain, and I find that our rich lands, afte 
being grassed and pastured a few years, are too strong for oats. They are apt to g 
down before the heads are filled, and consequently fill light. Rye seems to be th 
surest crop of the small grains. But the price of rye is usually low, and it alway 
appeared to me that we do a great deal of work for the money we get for the crop 
unless we are near a paper mill and can sell the straw—though selling straw is a thin 
I do not advise a farmer to do. However, we must sow some kind of small grain ii 
order to seed for grass. Timothy does well sowed alone. I think the surest way t 
get a good stand of timothy is to plow the ground lightly soon after harvest and soa 
timothy seed alone. This is very sure, and you will get a fair crop of hay from it th 
next year. Another good and sure way to get land well seeded with timothy is to soa 
in the fall with rye; while you will not get a crop of hay the next year, it will mak 
good pasture after the rye is harvested. Some have sowed clover seed with rye in th 
rail, with excellent results. I have never tried this method but think it worth a trial 
as rye makes a good protection for the grass through the winter. 
Timothy and clover both do well sowed on the rye early in the spring. I think 
have never failed of success in sowing in this manner. Barley is also a good crop t 
sow grass seed with. Wheat is not so sure, and it seldom does well when sown wit! 
oats. Timothy often does well when sown immediately after harvest, on stubbL 
either with or without harrowing. The fall rains give it a good start and the stubbli 
protects the young grass during the winter. 
When sowing grass seed with grain, I mix the seed and grain before sowing, an< 
sow all together with broadcast seeder. I harrow the ground once before sowing an< 
at least twice after sowing. This works well, and is a saving of time and labor 
which is an object to the farmer in seed time. My method when 1 sow in this way i; 
to measure or weigh the grain 1 wish to sow on six or eight acres, and the quantit’ 
of grass seed I want on the same, and mix well. In seeding for pasture or hay, ' 
think one-third clover and two-thirds timothy is a good mixture, and if my objec 
were to enrich the land, would sow all clover. Would recommend to sow from six t< 
eight quarts of grass seed to the acre and have the land in good condition when sown 
Nothing is said in the programme about seeding to weeds and how to do it. : 
don’t feel like closing my paper without saying something about seeding to weeds ant 
how not to do it. We need h ive no care about seeding to weeds, as they do tha 
themselves. We have a good soil and climate for the growth of weeds, and I an 
sorry to say that many of our farmers make but little effort to keep them in check 
Of course we have many kinds of weeds that we cannot subdue, but the kinds callec 
noxious weeds generally spread slowly and we can keep most of them in check if wt 
take them in time. The cockle-burr is a bad weed if you let it have its way, yet ii 
taken in time is not hard to subdue. I have hardly any on my farm. My plan ha; 
always been to stop whenever and wherever I see one, and pull it up and cast it int( 
the fire, root and branch, seed and all. We always have some matches in our pockets 
when picking corn, and when we find a burr or a patch of them we pull some husks 
and make a bonfire and put every stock and burr we can find on the heap and burr 
them then and there. My boys say they did not find one burr the past fall in picking 
one hundred and twenty acres of corn. This is but little trouble if taken in time —a 
stitch in time truly saves nine in this case. The wild morning-glory is a troublesome 
weed. It can be destroyed by frequent plowing in dry weather, or let hogs run where 
it grows and they will take it out root and branch. The Canada thistle [ know but 
little about, as we have not got it here yet. But we have a weed here called by vari¬ 
ous names, which is slowly but surely spreading all over our fair land. The proper 
name for this weed is Indian mallow, but is called by some velvet weed; by others 
butter print, because the pod that contains the seed looks like a butter print; others 
call it button-weed, chip-weed, etc. This weed will sometimes grow as tall as the 
corn. It grows rankest in the cornfield, but it thrives in any place where the ground 
is loose. This weed has a large leaf. It emits a disagreeable, sickening odor. The 
seeds are small and black, being contained in a pod, which opens in the fall, and the 
seeds fall out. The seed is oily, like clover seed, and will germinate after lying in the 
