The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-04-02

Waverly Ua.) Re-
publican. One way is to SOW on the
wild prairie soil. 1t was once a favor
lite expression of a we'll known writer
on agricultural topics. and especially
that Of seeding to grass, that he would
IKE to prosecute any man for blowing
Wlld prairie sod that he wished to get
into tame grass. The reason given was
That a better sod and a better stand
can be obtained by throwing the seed
on the sod, p%asturing pretty close and
SO run out the wild grasses with the
tame to the desired extent, for some
OF the wild grasses are advantageous
n should remain, especially for pas
ture purposes. Of late years we have
had drouths that made this method OF
no effect in this locality. The timothy
killed out, the clover run out, there
was nothing left on closely cropped lane
That was desirable. On rough land that
can not be plowed this method should
still be tried, for it is the only recourse
in such a case. The second method
is to SOW after spring grain is put in,
following the seeding of the grain by
sowing the grass seed and leaving it to
be covered by the winds and rains,
or following the sowing on the surface
by a brush harrow. That is the meth
Cd we learned further east and the n
that is suited to heavy clay soils, but
1t is unsuited to our loose, black, mel
low soil, as, except in showery wealth
.er, the ground will dry out below the
seed and it will not grow, and if it
does come up it is liable to be killed
afterwards by drying below the grass
roots while still young and short. This,
then, is an unsafe method for Iowa,
for failure to secure a stand surely
follows when the seaso is dry. The
third way is to SOW it early in the
spring, on land seeded to wheat or rye
the previous fall. Sow in March on
"the last snow of the season" it you
can, and let the alternate thawings
and freezings of the soil work it down
into the cracks and cover it. Being in
cracks, it will be m%oistened with every
movement of soil moisture and germin-
ate. There may be springs so destitute
of moisture that this is not a perfect
method. No other way can beat it when
the conditions are just right. There
is probably a time every spring when
this method will be a perfect success
if the seeding is done exactly at that
time, but it may come in the night
and by morning the weathe, be so that
seeding can not be done and ii de-
layed it may be a failure. The fourth
way is to mix the grass seed with the
other grain and SOW both together,
putting it in all at the same time n
at the same depth. This is for spring
seeding. In loose soil such as is COM
mon to Iowa this is safer than to SEED
after the grain is sown and subsequent
ly covering the grass seed lightly. II
it is not mixed with the grain, but
sown after the grain seeder and Guilt
waited in deep with the grain the effect
is the same as to SOW both together.
One or the other modification OF this
same method is by far the preferred
way when a stand is to be secured and
the ground also sown to a spring crop
of grain. Seed with the grain or i'm
mediately after, and cover the whole in
the same way. The fifth way is to sow
the grass on ground in fall wheat or
rye and to harrow the ground after
wards. This is the way to do If the
season is too far advanced for depend
ing upon the action of frosts to cover
the grass seed. Sow the grass as ear