432 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Due. 



continued long enough to destroy weed seed. Alfalfa seeds are small, 

 and the young plant is a feeble grower at first, and unless full oppor 

 tunity is afforded for the free movement of air and moisture, and the 

 easy penetration of the roots, germination will be faulty and many 

 of the young plants will perish before the crop is established. On 

 light, sandy soils this preparation is a comparatively simple matter. 

 It will pay to make the conditions for germination and early growth 

 as favorable as possible. It is better, ordinarily, that the preced- 

 ing crop should be one that will prevent the growth and development 

 of weeds, and the destruction of weed seeds, and in our experience 

 there is no better crop to precede the seeding of alfalfa than oats and 

 peas or early potatoes. These are renovating crops, and are seeded 

 early in spring and may be harvested long enough before it is neces- 

 sary to seed the alfalfa to enable the soil to be thoroughly prepared 

 and to destroy many weeds that would otherwise be a menace to the 

 young alfalfa plants. 



Fertilizers and Manures. 



Where the soil is not naturally good, artificial plant-food must be 

 provided, and in abundance, for alfalfa is a perennial crop, and the 

 best time to prepare for feeding is before it is planted; the surface 

 soil should be full of available mineral food. It is our experience 

 also that commercial fertilizers are much better for this purpose than 

 yard manures, unless the manures are free from weed seed, and the 

 land lacks humus. 



The /importance of vegetable matter in soils is quite as great in 

 growing alfalfa as in the growing of any other crop from the stand- 

 point of increasing their absorbing and water-holding power, but it 

 is possible to grow alfalfa on light soils, without the addition of more 

 vegetable matter than is necessary to provide for a proper medium 

 for the development and growth of the bacteria necessary, in order 

 that the plant may exercise its functions of absorbing nitrogen from 

 the air, providing there is an abundant supply of phosphoric acid and 

 potash. 



Where soils are deficient in vegetable matter, and manures are 

 easily obtained and cheap enough, they should be preferably applied 

 to the preceding crop, in order that they may be thoroughly incor- 

 porated with the soil, and many weed seeds destroyed, if applied at 

 time of seeding, well rotted manures are preferable to fresh manures. 

 The chief fertilizer constituents required are phosphoric acid, potash 

 and lime, and all of these should be used liberally, more especially on 

 poor soils. 



It is our experience, that even mixtures of ground bone, acid phos- 

 phate and muriate of potash are the cheapest and most useful forms 

 of fertilizers to use; the rate of application depending upon the char- 

 acter of soils, which may range from 600 to 800 lbs. per acre, on poor 

 soils, to as low as 400 lbs. upon good soils. These fertilizers should 

 be broadcasted and thoroughly mixed with the surface soil, previous 

 to seeding. 



The bulk of the phosphoric acid and potash should be applied broad- 

 cast after plowing, and well distributed in the surface before seed- 

 ing; after the fertilizers are so applied, the lime may be applied and 

 also thoroughly mixed with the soil. Just before seeding, a dressing 

 of complete fertilizer, containing a small amount of immediately avail- 



