Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-01-10
f0R THE FAReER.
Sowing Grass Seed.


pended in seeding g field 70 grass, and
no return is made for the money. A
little grass apgears the next season, and
3 large number of weeds. There is a
loss of crop, and the land becomes a
,nursery for undesirable vegetation. The
causes of failure to establish goqd
stand Of grass are numerous. One of
the most prominent is poor seed. Much
II the seed is poor when the stalks that
induced il are cut. Much more becomes
injured while. the stalks are
being cured or while they are in the
stack. It is likely that a still larger
quantity becomes ruined after it is
,threshed, and is stored in buildings.
Moisture is the most frequent cause Of
injury still other agents affect it .unfa.
yorably. Sometimes it is easy for the
experienced eye to discern .thAt the seed
ale injured. Its color is changed. At
times it is impossible to discover that
the seed is not good without the aid of
quite powerful microscope. It is some
what easy to determine if the seed pos
sesses any vitality, by placing few
grains between pieces Of mOistened cloth
or batting and leaving them in q some
what warm place a few days, taking
care to keep them moist during the time.
If the seed is positively bad, it will soon
begin TO mould and give off bad Odor.
If it has vitality it will soon begin to
swell, and after 2 few days, sprouts will
appear. By keeping mp a supply of
moisture ROOTS will also appear. Such
seed may generally be trusted to grow.
Still it may not possess sufficient vitality
TO produce sprouts that will continue to
grow 40 the open field.
1t is often the case that al the grains
in givea lot are bad. There is gener-
ally some good seed in very poor lots.
OF course large quantity of grass and
clover reed Is carried over from one
year to another. There is no assurance
that some is not several years old when
it is purchased. Deplers think that the
seed is quite too costly to throw away.
They mix old seed with new, and in
that way make the whole pass for the
merchantable article. Sometimes the
proportion of good seed is extremely
small. Some of the seed will produce
strong stalks, some will terminate, but
gill not have sufficient vitality to sustain
the sprouts, and some will not terminate
at all. Mr.. Flint in his work on grass
es states that few farmers SOW less than
bushel Of red-top seed, peck of timo-
thy, and four pounds of red clover to an
acre of land, These will contain not
Jess than $4,000, 900 They would allow
1900 to the SCARE foot, and fifteen seeds
TO every square inch of land. We're one
fourth of the seed to terminate and pro-
duce strong stalks, the plants would
crowd each other: One vigorous red
clover plant will occupy a square Inch
of ground. Still most farmers SOW a
much larger amount of seed than that
given above. Even then they fail to Sc
cure what is called a good stand. OBJ
viously few of the seed produce stalks
that grow. The failure of so many of
the good seeds to produce vigorous
stalks is due to a variety of causes 4,
Many lie on the surface of the soil, and
are eaten by the birds, or perish for want
OF moisture. Some are buried so deep
that they fail to germinate. This is
probably the case with majority of the
seeds. It is difficult to give grass and
clover seed sufficient covering without
the risk of giving them too much.
Farmers are not well agreed about
the time for sowing this kind of grass
seed. Those in one section of the coun-
try generally follow the practices that
prevail in another portion, where the
soil and climate are very different.
The seed of grass and clover is general
" goYp in connection with gram. This
is done partly with view Of securing a
crop Of grain the season. the grass and
Glover are becoming estab ished, and
partly with view of affordihg some
shAde for the tender grass and clover
plants. The grain is also found to be
bensficial in keeping weeds in check.
Ordinarily. securing good stand of
grass is regarded as of secondary to
producing ? large crop of grain. The
seed bed is prepared for grain, and is
much lighter than it should be ifintend-
ed Tor grass alone. The sowing is done
when it is presumed to be mOst favOra-
BILE Tor the grain, and this time may not
be uA6sa EqrAPls 70 the production of
grass and clover plants. The stalks Of
grain may afford the desired projection
to grass and clover plants while they
are quite smau, but It appears that they