The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1875-01-14
Seeding to Grass Without Grain.

SHADE kills grass; hence forest. if
dense, has no grass. In close orchard
or deeply shaded yard it is difficult to
establish a dense sod In our village, in
the more densely shaded parts, it is i'm
possible to start and continue growth
of grass. Orchard grass is an exception;
but this grows in tufts, making AN IN
even stand of grass A very thick SOW
ing, well established, will remedy this to
Il certain extent, but a rich soil is neces-
sary to a foothold our common grasses,
accustomed to field growth, require the
sun and air. This is the reason that a
thick stand of grain is hurtful to a seed
Ing OF grass. Sow your corn in drills on
"a good soil; cultivate until the crop has
good start, and the grass, SHOULD it
start up, will become spindled, and tiral-
ly Gle, or be Of no value. Thus, IN
heavy growth of grain, the seeding has
but little advance, however good the
season may be. Oats, our strongest
grower, if grown thick, will almost ruin
the young seeding, even after it is started
and gives promise. The grain sown
thinner, there is more chance for the
grass. So a crop of clover will keep
under the timothy and other grasses sown
with it. One of the most successful
grass growers is our friend Smith, who
sows two parts of timothy to one of
clover This yields a good crop Of clover
the first year, but leaves also chance
for the grass, which, the second and
other years following, makes good
stand. In this way Mr. Smith gets
his heavy sod heretofore mentioned
in the J0urndl 1t will be seen
tina: the principle here points to the
seeding to grass without the grain. And
this is practiccd successfully to a consid-
cradle extent. Where the ground is rich
and in good order, thin sprinkling of
grain may be admitted. Some hold that
1t will aid the young grass by its partial
protection from the sun. In a long, Sc
we're drought, it may; but in such case
the grain is light and affords little pro-
lection Grass-sced sown without the
grain, if sown quite early, will succeed
best. The winter moisture, and the com
paratiyely cool weather that follows, will
sufficiently favor it to establish il under
any circumstances; if the soil is good it
will afford crop the same season, and
If the aftermath is retained better crop
the year following. This should be done,
at least where the crop can be used; and
where not used it is letter to SOW thus
without the grain and sell the crop, as
then the grass will be established 1t is
one of the greatest misfortunes to have
failure in seeding, and only second to
1t 10 have partial success; we cannot
afford to wait to have the grass come in.
A crop may be insured by properly pre-
pairing the ground and seeing that it is
sufficiently rich This can best be done
late in the fall, if the weather will per
NIT. After the land is plowed and
smoothcd with the harrow, give it a coat
OF manure if it needs it. If the soil is
quite poor the manure should not be
scant, but fine and evenly spread, and
then narrowed in. Thus mixed with the
top soil the surface is enriched Just
where the top soil wants the enrichment
to start and establish it. BY applying
the manure after the fall rains the
nltrateS will not be washed out of the
snil, the ground will be made mellow by
the frost and be in condition for early
seedlng-the best time in our experience
being when the last frosts Of spring are
stirring the soil. a good plan is to SOW
on the late SHOWS, or, if it is desired to
do 1t later, harrow in the seed with
light harrow or draw brush drag over
It, II the seeding is deferred till this
time there is no need of narrowing in the
fall; let this be done just before the
seed is sown, to be narrowed again after.
This insures the crop if no grain is sown
to choke it out. The manure will
quicken it. 1t will appear with the first
warm weather, grow from the winter
moisture If there is no other, and soon
shade itself and thus in a measure defy
the sun and driving winds if the season
should thus open unfavorably. In order
to do it successfully it will be seen that
the seed must not be spared: you want
a thick, even set. This is different from
sowing sparingly on poor or badly run
landl badly put in, as is too often the
case.-F g., IN Lire Stock Jouyndl