Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-07-19
GRASS COL TuRE.
Boiled Down Edition Of success-
ftI Growers Method

FIJI Growers Method.
There are many theories and no the.
cries about grass culture. Following
is boiled down edition by The Ru-
raj New Yorker Of the method Of Sin
tense cultivation praeticed and de-
scribed by Mr.. George M. Clark. an
eastern grass specialist
| would prefer moist land, as that is
the best for grass. | viii deal with a
plain field covered with stiff turf and
commence the work July /. / would
take a pair of 1000 to 200 pound
horses, a 81 inch bladed revolving disk
piow, six foot bladed disk harrow, a
smoothing harrow and a grass hoe or
underground rake. IN July I would
plow it four times and harrow it four
times. In August you'd plow it
twice. harrow it eight times, level it
four times and use tue grass hoe one
day with one horse. September J. aft
er cultiyating two months, would
SOW it to rye or crimson clover and
April %, with the revolving pillow and
disk harrow, most thoroughly mix the
rye or clover with the surface and then
sow oats with 300 pounds of cat fertile
ger.
July / or when the oats are in the
milk / would cut them for hay The
fertilizer ought II make large crop.
Then commence again with the reyoly-
ing pillow, bladed harrow and smoother
and go over 1t three times each week
until Sept. / and with the grass hoe
wherever necessary | would thus
feet condition, at which time l would
SOW 16 quarts of recleaned redtop and
is quarts of timothy, also 600 pounds
of fertilizer, and In the spring would
add 400 pounds more. July l would
cut four or more tons of hay and then
add 200 pounds more of fertilizer. Sept.
&c / would cut liz tons more hay. This
is the story in a nutshell.
One may ask what becomes of the
sod or turf with your method of plow-
ing? Each one of the sharp blades Of
the disks enters the sod, cuts and
twists out a piece, and by going over it
a few times it Is cut and mixed with
the surface soil. In fact. it seems to
melt away and soon becomes plant
food.
One asks, Why not use the common
plow? There are many reasons why
not. 1t makes a plow crust, turns the
sod in hard roll beyond the reach of
other machines. cuts off the subsoil
water and causes premature drought;
in fact, stirs the earth too slowly for
this generation.
Why go over the field so many times:
Each time over changes the surface
soil to the depth of six or more inches
and let's in more sunshine and air
Why not SOW grass seed the first
fall? An old field would not be proper
ly aerated in so short a time.
Why not commence in the spring?
The land is too wet, weather cold, and
usually some crop can be saved by
July
Is the grass coarse when large crops
are grown? No; It is exactly the re
verse.
What height Of grass is required to
make one ton upon an acre? If a good
stand, in other words if it is as thick
as it can stand, every six inches in
height will produce ton
Do you have any trouble with such
heavy grass lodging? If perfect
stand, no. 1t can only crinkle a little
at most.
Can fertilizers be compounded to
make grass stand stronger. Yes; when
the grass is weak, more potash is re-
CURED
How late in the growth of the crop
can fertilizers be used? They should
be used before the grass is six inches
high, but can be used with profit until
the grass is one foot or even two feet
high.
Has the weather any effect upon the
use of fertilizers? Yes; all fertilizers
containing nitrogen should be used if
possible lust before q rain