12) Choose grasses that animals like. If the plats be sown as suggested and ani mals allowed to graze them, their choice will be apparent. On the Dunkirk clay loam soil at Cornell University, Ithaca. New York, dairy cows ranked the grasses in the follow ing order: awnless brome, red and alsike clover, meadow fescue and timothy. orchard-grass, Kentucky blue-grass and red-top, the last mentioned grass being shunned wherever it occurred. On the Dunkirk clay in the Genesee val ley, New York, fattening steers ate Canada blue-grass, Kentucky blue grass, Danthonia spicata (which is rather prevalent), equally well, while red-top and timothy were left. Horses and sheep are more partial to orchard grass than are cattle.
Seeding grass-land.
In seeding temporary grass - land, select seeds of plants which mature quickly ; it is wasteful to sow seeds of Kentucky blue grass, meadow fescue or meadow fox tail, since it takes two or three years for these plants to attain full growth. Red and alsike clo vers. timothy, red-top and or chard-grass suggest themselves as being desirable for this purpose.
For permanent grass-land there is a greater variety at our dis posal. In addition to those already mentioned, alfalfa, meadow fes cue, meadow foxtail, Kentucky blue-grass, hard fescue, Canada blue-grass and others may be used.
For a meadow a few kinds of grasses are usually sown, and these are generally the tall, strong-growing species, as timothy, red-top, tall fescue, alsike and red clo ver. Almost invariably when maximum yields are secured, only one or two spe cies are grown, it being much easier to furnish the ideal conditions for the best growth of one or two species than it is for twenty species.
Whenever the herbage of grass-land is diversified, and comprises twenty to forty dif ferent species of plants, the yield per acre is low. In seeding a permanent pasture, however, not only do we sow several spe ties of grasses to secure a continuous "bite" throughout the season, but also because conditions change ; some of the grasses being slow in occupying the land, early-maturing species are sown with them to fill the land and to exclude weeds, thus ensuring larger yields. Some of the grasses should furnish abun dance of leaves and but few stems, thus giving a close, dense turf ; among such grasses are Kentucky blue-grass, hard fescue and some strains of timothy. Certain grasses are useful because of their stoloniferous habit of growth, which enables them bet ter to withstand the treading of stock and to live and reproduce below ground. Such plants include Kentucky blue - grass, red -top, white clover and many kinds of timothy.
Purchasing seed and sowing.
Seeds of different species should be purchased separately and sam ples taken for examination for purity and germinating power. [For advice on seed-testing, see page 140.] The true basis for pur chasing and sowing seeds is not how many pounds per acre, but how many millions of viable seeds should be sown per acre. A pound of timothy seed may contain 1,300,000 seeds; a pound of red-top may contain 6,000,000 seeds; hence, to secure an equal number of plants per acre would require a much less weight of red-top than of timothy. The number of seeds which should be sown per acre depends on the soil, climate, the kind of grass and the object in view. The number of grass plants found on an acre of old meadow in Eng land was over 78,000,000 when irrigated and about 18,000,000 when not irrigated. A common estimate is to sow 20,000,000 via ble seeds per acre, which is about 450 per square foot. For tempo , rary grass-land, where one-third of the seeds are legumes, 8,000, 000 to 10,000,000 seeds is ample in many places. On the Cornell Uni versity farm when timothy and cloves are sown to remain one year, it is cus tomary to sow ten pounds of timothy and ten pounds of red clover per acre, or about 13,000,000 timothy seeds and 2,250,000 clover seeds, a total of 15,250,000 per acre. The land should be well fitted. If weedy, two or three cleaning crops, as corn, potatoes and beans, should be taken and the land well manured for these crops. Fertilizers and lime may be applied and harrowed in before the seed is sown, if found to be desirable.
A fine, firm seed-bed is necessary, and the sub-sur face must be compact to ensure the upward passage of moisture. This point will hear emphasis, many failures occuring from not having the seed-bed sufficiently compact.
If sown in fall it is usually advisable to sow not later than September 1. Spring sowing should be done as early as the ground will permit. Clover is usually sown in spring when the snow is still on the ground. This is a good practice because it is found that clovers germinate best under the low and steady temperature which is then maintained. Kentucky blue - grass, however, germinates best when subjected to a temperature alternating be tween 68° and 86° F.; hence, if it is sown in fall, on or near the surface, these conditions are secured. Thus each kind of grass has a certain temperature or range of temperatures which are best suited for its germination.