35 



the land with an iniplemeut eight or niiaie feet long and 

 five feet wide, made by 2xG's spiked together; six mules 

 draw this. I can reverse the float, turn it over and use 

 it to level the land in rough places. I am not yet ready 

 to seed this land prepared in this way. I must have a 

 rain on it that will settle it and take the air cells out. 

 Then, with a light toothed harrow I break the surface, 

 sow the seed with a a\ heelbarrow seeder and cover with 

 a light harrow followed by a heavy steel roller. Good 

 black land seeded in this way will return .|J:0 or |50 per 

 acre everv vear, at verv little cost for labor." 



One grower in West Alabama subsoiled his land for 

 alfalfa last fall, but it is too early for the effects of 

 subsoiling to become apparent.. One grower in the 

 same neighborhood harrowed his land seven times, an 

 extreme case. Others report satif.- faction from one or 

 two harrowing."^, a number often insufficient. It should 

 be lK)rne in mind that preparation for alfalfa is expect- 

 ed to suflice for from three to twenty years, and should 

 therefore be thorough. 



.SOWI\(i r.KOADCAST VEKSl'S l.\ WIDE DRILLS. 



It is maintained by some parties that in the Gulf 

 States drilling alfalfa, with such distance between rows 

 as to permit of cultivation, will be more satisfactory 

 than l)roadcast planting. In three experiments at Au- 

 burn and in one at Uniontown, drilling was unsatisfac- 

 tory. On the station farm at Auburn it was found diffi- 

 cult in planting by hand in drills to avoid covering the 

 seed too deep, and it was found that the amount of cul- 

 tivation required to keep the grass and weeds subdued 

 in drilled alfalfa was greater than it is practicable to 

 give to a hav field. 



On the Oanebrake experiment farm at Uniontown, 



