EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 327 



ALFALFA 



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NOTES RELATIX<; TO SUITAP.IIJTY OF SOILS, CT'LTIVATION, SEEDING, FERTILIZ- 



IN(i, ETC5 



Circular No. 1. 



Greatly varied results have been secured from alfalfa growing in 

 Michigan ; a great variety of methods have been employed on nearly 

 every kind of soil under v>'idely varying conditions; no uniform rules 

 seem to have been observed in this work. It is much better to employ 

 every possible means to secure a stand on a small area each year and 

 succeed, than to attempt to seed a large acreage in an unsuitable or 

 haphazard way and fail. 



Selection of Suitable Land. — In selecting a suitable site for alfalfa 

 growing avoid the low lying, wet, cold lands with water level nearer than 

 five or six feet of the surface. Also avoid high, wet lands, such as 

 seepy hillsides. It is desirable, as far as practicable, to grow alfalfa on 

 lands not suited to cereal ( roj) p'roduction, such as the lighter, sandy 

 and gravelly areas and high, barren hills and ridges; for there is a 

 possibility of utilizing these lands in this way while other crops may 

 not be profitable. Alfalfa should be regarded as a permanent crop too 

 valuable to use in a short rotation to be plowed under after two or three 

 years, in the same manner as clover. AVhere clover succeeds well and 

 the crop rotation is a short one it should be used. 



Suitability of Soils. — 



An exact statement as to the most suitable soils cannot be made be- 

 cause of the infiuences of local conditions. Two soils of the same 

 general character, but in different localities, may produce far from the 

 same results. 



The sub-soil should be sufficiently permeable and porous to permit 

 proper aeration, drainage and penetration of roots. An impenetrable 

 hard-pan sub-soil is extremely undesirable. 



In general the most suitable alfalfa soils are those of the deep, rich, 

 loayny, or sandy loam types. Much soils do not seem to be satisfactory. 

 The results from clay soils seem to be variable. If clays overlay a some- 

 what porous sub-soil the alfalfa seems to thrive, but if the sub-soil is -im- 

 pervious to the percolation of water, interfering with natural drainage, 

 thus producing cold, wet conditions, the results are bad. With this 

 class of soils the plants are more subject to heaving in the winter 

 and spring. 



Sandy and Gravelly Soils. — 



In general, alfalfa can be grown quite successfully on this class of 

 soils even though lacking in humus and certain elements of plant food. 

 The chief difficulty in connection with these soils is to get the alfalfa 

 plants well started, but Avhen once established under these conditions, 

 the crop will do better than any cereal or grass crop that could be 

 used. 



