New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 557 



the manure returned to the land, there is a very noticeable in- 

 crease of fertility, which may be made more permanent by 

 moderate applications of potash salts and phosphatic fertilizers, 

 which are well paid for by the increased yield. 



In the west the great improvement in fields where alfalfa has 

 been grown is a commonly recognized fact, although the crop is 

 not always fed on the field. Improvement, however, cannot be 

 lasting when plant food is continually removed. Much of the 

 plant food left in the soil has been brought from an unusual 

 depth. The stubble and roots of manure growth contain, on an 

 acre, of the essential fertilizing constituents, an amount that 

 would require about thirty-five dollars to purchase. The me- 

 chanical condition of the soil is also left improved when an 

 alfalfa field is broken up. A crop of alfalfa virtually deepens 

 the soil and extends the feeding ground of subsequent crops. 



Seeding. 



The seed should not be sown unless the soil has received care- 

 ful thorough preparation, for it is very important to secure a 

 full and uniform stand, especially if hay is to be made. The 

 seed should be sown in the spring, after danger of severe frost 

 is passed, and when the ground would be considered in the best 

 possible condition for planting garden seeds. The treatment of 

 the field for the preceding season should have been such as to 

 have most efl'ectually subdued all weeds, and caused the sprout- 

 ing and destruction of any seed in the ground. The seed should 

 not be sown with grain, but alone, although a good catch is some- 

 times secured when sown with oats, only about half the usual 

 quantity of grain being used. If sown with grain the young 

 plants are likely to be killed by the sun after the grain is cut. 



It is best to sow about thirty pounds of seed per acre to in- 

 sure a full stand. Some consider twenty pounds of seed ample. 

 If the seeds were evenly distributed, and all would germi- 

 nate and grow there would be several times the number of seeds 

 necessary in this smaller quantity to produce a thick stand 

 But all conditions of soil, moisture and seed cannot always be 



