Seeding In Rye

Categories: GRASS SODS

When thin land is desired for pasture, and available

fertility cannot well be applied, a sod may be formed more surely by

seeding with rye, using the rye for pasture and a mulch, than,

probably, in any other way. The ground should have good tillage and

then be seeded to rye in September at the rate of six pecks of seed per

acre. Timothy and red-top should be seeded with it, and in the spring

red and alsike clover shoul be added. Whenever the ground is dry

enough in the spring to permit the tramping of cattle without injury,

the rye should be pastured, and preferably by a sufficient number of

animals to hold the rye well in check. When the usual time for heading

comes, all stock should be removed, and when heads do appear, the

growth should be clipped with a mower and left as a mulch on the

surface. A second clipping will be required later, with cutter-bar

tilted well upward. When the usual summer drouth is past, livestock can

again be turned into the field. This method is suggested only for thin

fields that have failed to make catches of grass, and that for some

reason cannot well be given the fertility that all thin soils need. The

application of lime before seeding to the rye is an expense that

usually must be met in the case of such fields, and fertilizers should

be used.