6 
BULLETIN 68. 
timothy. ( Phleum pratense .) 
Timothy is not a success on the uplands and it can hard¬ 
ly be said to be on any lands in the valley. 
I do not believe the returns will warrant sowing it at all. 
WHEN TO SOW GRASS SEED. 
There are two times of year only when grass seed may 
be sown with good success in this country, viz: March and 
August. 
By sowing in the former month, the grass gets a start 
before the weeds come on to choke it out and besides it 
will sometimes get the benefit of April storms. 
In many respects August is the preferable time to sow. 
There are no weeds or foreign grass to choke the young 
grass. The weather becomes cooler and damper and the 
young plant receives the benefit of summer rains that usual¬ 
ly occur. 
The plant gets well established before winter and starts 
the next spring strong and vigorous to take possession of 
the land. 
If sown in August, the farmer may take a grain crop 
from the land previous to sowing, but if the grass is sown 
in the spring the season is lost for anything but the grass. 
FALL SEEDING OF ALFALFA. 
Sometimes conditions of crops and labor are such that 
the farmer wishes to sow alfalfa in the fall. He wishes to 
know if it may be done with impunity. 
In the first week of September 1898 the station sowed 
three acres to alfalfa. This was just preceeding the severe 
winter of 1898-99 in which the thermometer registered-32 0 . 
A good rain came soon after the seed was sown and the 
seed came up nicely, the plants getting about two inches 
high when winter set in. A few spots died out during the 
winter but the greater part of it stood the extreme cold 
weather well. 
The weather conditions that winter were the worst ever 
recorded in this country and the results seem to indicate 
that alfalfa may be sown in August or early September 
with impunity. 
The rules given for the sowing of grass seed hold good 
in regard to the sowing of alfalfa seed. 
