Connecticut western news., 1881-12-07
FARM AND GARDEN.
Grass in the Crop Rotation-Sugges-
 tiODs about Seeding.
BY THE HON. F. P. ROOT.

No system of agriculture can be profit able that noes not make grass an essen- tial part of rotation of crops. When lands are not adapted to grain, growing grass is the chief reliance, and it be- comes a speciality, but nowhere can it be discarded without great detr1ment to the soil. The farmer who raises abund- ant crops of grass, while he is grain grower also, will raise good crops of grain in alienation. There seems harmony in the movement from grass to grain, which is beneficial to each. The best crops of corn, of wheat, and also other farm crops in general, are grown on an inverted sod, with nicely fitted seedbed on the surface; and the most bountiful crops of grass on grain lands are raised the first crop after grain, or on newly seeded lands. On our natural grain soils we find it unproitable to maintain any permanent meadow or pasture. Though portion of every farm should be in grass, our dry grain lands will not give continuous crops of grass without frequent top-dressing and scarifying the surface; hence it is more profitable to seed frequently and use all manure of the farm for the benefit of grain crops. .-en - 1
 There need be no lack of hay or pas turage in our dry grain growing sections if we seed frequently. A crop turning from one to two tons of hay from newly seeded clover and timothy is as sure as any other crop grown, and is also renovating crop to the soil. Too little attention is given to seeding in grass by majority of farmers in our grain sections. Lands in wheat should be seeded to clover and timothy, and if not wanted for moving or pasturage the benefit to the land by growing grass and clover instead of weeds and missiles will greatly overbalance the expense of seeding. It is not profitable to keep dry land in grass more than two seasons in succession; then it should be plowed and two or three crops of grain grown, and then reseeded. The best season for seeding of timothy on wheat lands is in October, or late in September, though it may be sown in spring mixed with clover seed, but the growth will be much less the first season of moving than if sown in autumn. Clover seed is sometimes sown in fall on dry sandy lands to insure 8 germination of the seed, but it is quite liable to winter kill in changeable weather.
 The best and most usual time of seed ing to clover is in the month of March, or early in April or, we may say, i'm mediately after the opening of spring and before frosts disappear, the action of which will in degree cover the seed and aid germination. It is also 8 good time to seed to clover after the ground is dry enough to go over with light harrow, sowing the seed immediately before that operation, which is regarded usually as beneficial to the wheat crop as well as to the clover. Timothy seed is frequently sown at the time of wheat seeding, but if wheat is sown early in the season and timothy at the same time, there is danger of choking the wheat by too much growth of grass. It is especially so when the autumn season is wet and an active growth follows. Timothy seed will never fail if sown in the fall, for if there is not wet enough to start it in fall, it will come in spring without fail. Many farmers do not ap- prove of early sowing of clover seed, fearing that the early germ may be killed by late frosts in spring, but am convinced by observation that there is very little danger of frosts on the young clover plant unless the ground be frozen to heave and pull the root. The cause of failure in clover seeding is drouth immediately after germination of the seed and before the root gets sufficient depth of soil to retain moisture. A drouth in the month of May will en- danger clover seeding; later drouth will only retard growth.
 Clover aud timothy are the best seed ing for dry grain lands, where perma- nent sod is not required, but where con- tinued grass crops are desired, blue grass orchard grass and June grass are more desirable, as they are more lasting, and mixture of these with the former will be found beneficial. A variety of grasses will form a permanent sod and afford much better pasturage the season through, and stock will always thrive on a 8 variety of grasses much better than on one alone, for our grain lands we have no forage cropmore desirable than red clover during the season of its growth. but it natures during July, after which it af- lords but little pasturage, hence the rule of mixture of grasses to supply the re- mainder of the season. In seeding lands we meet with more failures with clover than with any of the grasses, and to insure against failure we should always mix other seeds, which if sown in fall one need not fear failure, even if sown so late as November, for the seeds when worked into the soil by the frosts and storms of the winter season will be sure to germinate in early spring, and there is but little danger of injury by frosts; but the same is not true of clover, for severe freezing will pull the young plants out of the ground and destroy them. No amount of experience can enable farmer to always succeed in getting a good seeding of clover, for the variable ness of seasons cannot be foreseen, but soil in good tilth and fertile, the seed sown early in spring, and slightly cov- cred with harrow and roller, with a dressing of plaster, will seldom fail.