Smyrna times., 1878-02-06
.4.g1'iculIH1'0I.
Renovating Worn-0ut Grass-Lands.

Mr. {. I. Alvord writes from Whining
ton, VT, to the Amcricaa Cgliicat9r in support
of the plan Of renovating old grassland 10y
invertng the sod and reseedng. He says;
1.-The Importance of preserving such an
amount of vegetable matter IN the inverted
sod, i'll order to supply as soon as may be
that material which is so much needed in
our soils, will be apparent to all. The
theory entertained and practiced by many
farmers, for years past, to let the inverted
sod remain without being disturbed in the
subsequent cultivation Of the Land, and to
reseed as soon as practicable, believe to be
correct, and l also believe it is the surest
and quickest method of renoyating our ex-
hausted soils.
when / commenced plowing my grass
lands early in the fall, and then seeding
them down again, | found two objections
to that method. One was that the grass
would winter-kill in places; the other that
] could not SOW clover seed, rs | wanted to-
| also learned from this experiment that
where grass seed was sown on the winter
killed places, in the spring, the grass was
as good and as ripe when IT was cut aS
where the seed was sOwn in the fall.
then tried the method Of fitting my land
and sowing the grass seed Just before the
ground froZe or the snow came, so that it
would not start till spring. In this way
avoided the winter.kllIing Of the grass
In both Of these ways OF seeding l have
always obtained good crops of grass
" For number of years past have sown
grass seed only in the spring. On such
land as | wish to seed down without grain
fit my land in the fall, if | can, as that saves
valuable time i'll the spring: but, if do
not have time to perform the work in the
fall, then l tit the land rs early as possible
in the spring, then sowing the seed. On
all lands that | seed down ! finish working
the land before the seed is sown. never
covering the seed. l think where grass
seed is narrowed, ralled, or bushed in much
OF the seed is covered so deep that it never
comes up.
Many persons think that grass seed
sown i'll the spring will not make q crop of
hay the first season. and that it requires
two seasons to do it. This is an error. On
all the lands that / have ,Own with grass
seed in the spring the grass has been ripe
enough to cut ir from ten to twelve weeks
from the time the seed was sown, while |
invariably get better crops Of grass from
such methods than l do when seed down
with grain. If the grain lodges, it will kill
the grass, and if the weather is dry the
grass is liable to dry up; while in both
cases the land will need rcscedinc else
weeds and foul grasses will occupy the
soil
Z" If grass seed is sown by itself in the
spring, 1t will generally get 20 good a start
that no ordinary dry or hot weather in the
summer will lnjure the crop. When seed
ing land in this way, sufficient quantity
OF seed should be sown. 50 that. if it all
grows, the land will be all occupied with
grass, thus preventing the growth Of weeds
also giving larger yield, with better quality
OF grass, while forming thicker turf to be
turned under for the enrichment of the
soil when the land is again plowed.
"On lands which have seeded in this
way the first crop of hay has averaged two
tons per acre, while the second wear I
usually got two crops. aggregating at least
four tons per acre. 1t is we'll known that
on our old cultivated fields, as the vegeta.
ble matter becomes exhausted, the soil
packs down and becomes hard; hence, the
crops suffer from dry weather. In blowing
grass-lands, if the turf is turned under and
remains without being disturbed it keeps
the soil from packing, it facilitates the free
entrance OF air, and water enters to great
depth, thereby benefiting the crops to
greater extent. Another advantage is
that, when our lands need it, re can work
them more rapidly and more frequently.
In my experience I have found that the
same amount of labor and manure applied
to the land in this way will produce better
crops of hay. and that the land will not
need to be plowed 50 soon again as under
the old method Of treatments; and finally,
the fertility and productiyeness of the soil
increased