Experiments have been conducted at the College in sowing Alfalfa 

 in the autumn and in the spring, both with and without a nurse crop. 

 The nurse crop used in the autumn was winter wheat, and that used in 

 the spring was oats. As the result of two distinct experiments, each 

 extending over a period of two years, it was found that the spring sowing 

 gave the best results. The Alfalfa, which was sown in the spring alone, 

 gave an average in the second year of the test of 17.2 tons, and that sown 

 with oats, an average of 16 tons of green crop per acre. The Alfalfa 

 sown in the autumn with winter wheat was partially, and that sown with- 

 out any nurse crop was very badly winter killed. 



In another experiment, spring wheat, barley, and oats were used as 

 nurse crops. Five plots were sown with each kind of grain, thus making 

 fifteen plots sown with grain and Alfalfa seed in the spring of 1899. The 

 average total yields of green Alfalfa per acre obtained from the plots on 

 which the nurse crops had been sown were as follows in each of the years 

 1900 and 1901 : 



In this experiment the spring wheat proved to be the best, and the 

 oats the poorest crop with which to sow Alfalfa. The oat crop, especially 

 if the seed is sown thickly, has a tendency to smother out the young and 

 tender plants of Alfalfa. All nurse crops used with Alfalfa should be 

 sown quite thinly. 



In still another experiment, Alfalfa was sown alone and with one 

 bushel of barley per acre. The test was made in duplicate. The average 

 yield of green Alfalfa per acre during the three following years for each 

 of the plots in both of the sets was as follows : 



Sets. 



No. 1, 

 No. 2. 



Alfalfa seed sown with 



/ Nurse Crop of Barley 



\ Nothing 



( Nurse Crop of Barley 

 \ Nothing 



This experiment was started in 1895 an< ^ finished in 1898. We now 

 sow the Alfalfa seed in the spring of the year and usually with about one 

 bushel of barley per acre. From this system excellent satisfaction has 

 been obtained. 



