470 



EXP EM MESIAL FA RMS 



2 GEORGE V., A. 1912 



few years. During the time it is thus preparing the land for an increased yield of 

 beets, it is producing a crop that ranks in cash returns very close to the sugar beet. 

 For dairying and stock feeding, there is no other hay that quite equals alfalfa. 



Although alfalfa, after it is once well established, is a strong, vigorous grower, 

 it is quite tender when young and considerable care should be exercised in preparing 

 the land so that a good stand may be obtained to start with. One or two grain or 

 other crops should have been taken off the land. The sods should be all rotted and the 

 native grasses should be all worked out of the ground. Although it is not wise to sow 

 it on non-irrigated land except on summer-fallow or where hoed crops have been 

 grown the previous season, it is quite feasible to sow on fall or spring-ploughed stwbble 

 where the land is to be irrigated. After the ground is ploughed a good fine seed bed 

 should be prepared. Before seeding, the land should be inoculated by taking some 

 soil from an old alfalfa field and scattering over the field, and then harrowing it in. 

 One hundred pounds of soil is sufficient for one acre but one hundred and fifty to two 

 hundred pounds can be spread over easier. On the payment of one dollar, a sack of 

 this soil will be shipped to any farmer in Southern Alberta from the Station and the 

 freight on the same will be prepaid to the applicant's nearest railway station. Soil 

 from an inoculated alfalfa field that has been growing in a thrifty manner for two 

 seasons may be used to inoculate other fields. 



The seed should always be sown alone, never with a nurse crop, and during the 

 latter part of May. On irrigated land about twenty pounds of seed per acre, on non- 

 irrigated land, from ten to twelve pounds of seed per acre, should be sown. Further 

 space will not be taken up here in giving details in regard to the growing of this plant, 

 but a circular dealing with the matter quite fully will be mailed free to any one apply- 

 ing for the same. 



ALFALFA — RATES OF SEED PER ACRE (IRRIGATED) . 



The following fields were sown in June, 1908, and the average results for the last 

 two seasons are here given. They were irrigated twice, on June 8, and on August 4. 

 In the fall, after growth had about ceased, the fields were again irrigated so that they 

 might go into the winter wet and so insure rapid growth the first thing in the follow- 

 ing spring. The first cutting was made June 20, the second July 26, and the third 

 September 19. 



Alfalfa — Rates of Seed per Acre (irrigated). 



In connection with the results given in the above table, it should be mentioned 

 that an excellent stand was obtained on all the fields when the seed was sown in 190*. 

 The seed bed was in prime condition, and timely rains came immediately after the 



