through its second season,
when its seed crop has been made, and its function performed. The sod
is chiefly timothy in the second season. A little red-top is desirable,
and the percentage should be heaviest for quite wet land or very dry
land. When fertility is the first consideration, and the sod is left
only two or three years, the following mixture is good, and is for one
acre:

Red clover 10 pounds
Alsike 2 pounds
Timothy 8 pounds
Red-top 2 pounds

When a mixed hay is wanted the first year, the following mixture may be
found better for the purpose:

Red clover 6 pounds
Alsike 2 pounds
Timothy 12 pounds
Red-top 2 pounds

Mammoth clover seed may be substituted for the red without change in
number of pounds.

The amount of timothy and red-top in the second mixture suggested calls
for a liberal supply of plant-food, and this is true of any heavy grass
mixture. If fertility is not present, the seeding of grass should be
lighter, but the clover should not be less in amount for a thin soil
than for a good one. The question of fertilizers is discussed in
Chapter XX.

CHAPTER IX

SODS FOR PASTURES

Permanent Pastures.--There is a large total area of land that can be
brought into profitable production of food only by means of pasture
grasses. A small part is too low and moist for tillage, but a larger
part is too rough or too infertile. It can be made to yield profit in
grasses that are harvested without expense by animals. The grasses
afford feed and at the same time protect the soil from waste. The
efficiency of much pasture land is kept low by poor stands of grass,
the encroachment of weeds, bushes, and briers, close grazing, and the
failure to supply fertility. When making a sod for mowing, the aim is
to select varieties of plants that mature near the same time. Pastures
need varieties maturing at different times, and this is a matter under
control when temporary pastures are used. Permanent pasture land soon
becomes occupied by the grasses best fitted to soil conditions or most
able to crowd other plants.

[Illustration: Good Pasture Land in Chester County, Pa.]

Seed-mixtures.--Several varieties of grasses should be used when making
a sod for grazing. They occupy all the surface more quickly and surely
than a single variety, and the pasturage is better. The character of
the soil determines the character of the mixture in