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Show Conservationist Gives Rules For Grass Seeding And Production In The Basin The production of grass seed is a new industry developing within the Uintah Basin. Climate, Cli-mate, soils, water and location are all favorable to this crop according to Don B. Nielson, Soil Conservation Service work unit conservationist at Roosevelt. Growing grass seed, Just as with other crops, must be learned learn-ed by experience and handling the harvested seed requires good judgment. For those farmers willing to follow the rules, grass seed will be a profitable crop. For those who are not careful it can be an expensive mistake. With this crop a farmer cannot wait a week or two weeks to cut the seed, use commercial fertilizer, fer-tilizer, or wait for water. Mr. Nielson came to Roosevelt from Fillmore, Utah, where he had a chance to work with several sev-eral farmers starting in the seed business. From his past experi- ence and from recommendations put out by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, farmers in the Uintah Basin who expect to get into the grass seed production business on a paying basis must be prepared to follow these rules; 1. Check with the county agent or the district agricultural inspector (Hale Holgate) to see that there are no noxious weeds or similar grasses on the land, then buy good quality seed from a reliable seed house. 2. Prepare a firm seed bed in April, May, August or October. 3. Plant 3 to 5 lbs. of seed per acre in rows 36 to 42 inches apart. For intermediate wheat grass and stiff hair wheat grass - the 42 inch rows are recommended. recom-mended. '4. Do not use a nurse crop. Cultivate often anough to keep out the weeds; in some cases it is possible to quit cultivating at the end of the second growing season. 5. Do not graze or clip the grass less than 6 inches above the ground. 6. Use at least 200 lbs. of 20 per cent commercial nitrogen fertilizer per acre and be prepared pre-pared to use up to 600 lbs. if needed. 7. Combine while much of the seed is still green. 8. Dry the seed quickly by spreading the seed out in the sun. 9. Run the dry seed through the combine a second time to remove re-move trash and empty seed hulls. 10. Use only enough water to soak' to a depth of 2 or 3 feet each irrigation. Grass seed is planted with the grain box of the grain drill, or some corn drills are satisfactory. When using a grain drill it is necessary to plug up the holes which are not to be used. A piece of cloth or light canvas with a piece of board for a weight is usually satisfactory-No satisfactory-No expensive sprays are required re-quired to insure a crop of grass seed as it is with alfalfa, though, grasshoppers can do a lot of damage sometimes. Contact your county agnt or the Soil Conservation Service for more detailed information for your farm if you expect to get into grass seed production. |