s land for the
growth of mowing and pasture crops. Therefore to the grower of stock the
management of grass crops is all-important.

In planting either for a meadow or for a pasture, the farmer should mix
different varieties of grass seeds. Nature mixes them when she plants,
and Nature is always a trustworthy teacher.

In planting for a pasture the aim should be to sow such seeds as will
give green grass from early spring to latest fall. In seeding for a
meadow such varieties should be sowed together as ripen about the same
time.

Even in those sections of the country where it grows sparingly and where
it is easily crowded out, clover should be mixed with all grasses sowed,
for it leaves in the soil a wealth of plant food for the grasses coming
after it to feed on. Nearly every part of our country has some clover
that experience shows to be exactly suited to its soil and climate.
Study these clovers carefully and mix them with your grass seed.

The reason for mixing clover and grass is at once seen. The true
grasses, so far as science now shows, get all their nitrogen from the
soil; hence they more or less exhaust the soil. But, as several times
explained in this book, the clovers are legumes, and all legumes are
able by means of the bacteria that live on their roots to use the free
nitrogen of the air. Hence without cost to the farmer these clovers help
the soil to feed their neighbors, the true grasses. For this reason some
light perennial legume should always be added to grass seed.

[Illustration: FIG. 226. SINGLE PLANT OF GIANT MILLET]

It is not possible for grasses to do well in a soil that is full of
weeds. For this reason it is always best to sow grass in fields from
which cultivated crops have just been taken. Soil which is to have grass
sowed in it should have its particles pressed together. The small grass
seeds cannot take root and grow well in land that has just been plowed
and which, consequently, has its particles loose and comparatively far
apart. On the other hand, land from which a crop of corn or cotton has
just been harvested is in a compact condition. The soil particles are
pressed well together. Such land when mellowed by harrowing makes a
splendid bed for grass seeds. A firm soil draws moisture up to the
seeds, while a mellow soil acts as a blanket to keep moisture from
wasting into the air, and at the same time allows the heated air to
circulate in the soil.

In case land has to be plowe