The Bulletin. 15 



gotten in and maintained in better shape than in the early fall, as the 

 moisture conditions are generally more favorable ; but on the other 

 hand, as plants from spring-sown seed are more liable to be choked 

 out by erabgrass and weeds, alfalfa sown in the fall gets well estab- 

 lished in the soil during the fall and winter, and when the weather 

 commences to warm up in early spring the young plants begin vigor- 

 ous growth long before the grass and weeds do, and thereby get a sub- 

 stantial and generally victorious start on them. It should be remem- 

 bered that as alfalfa has such exceedingly weak and delicate plants 

 that are easily smothered out when very young, it will not require 

 very adverse weather and soil conditions or very strong and persist- 

 ent competition from grass and weeds to stifle it out during the first 

 few weeks of its growth. In the eastern portion of the State, where 

 the natural grasses, especially erabgrass, grow so luxuriantly and 

 abundantly, the weight of evidence at hand seems generally to favor 

 fall seeding, especially where previous efforts have not been exerted 

 to kill the grass and weed seeds in the soil ; while for the Piedmont 

 and western portions it does not appear so highly essential that the 

 seed be sown in the fall in order that the plants may have a good start 

 on the grass in the spring, as natural grasses do not seem to grow here 

 so abundantly in the cultivated fields. 



With fall seeding, it should be done early enough so that the plants 

 will have developed several leaves before frost comes. Young alfalfa 

 will stand a reasonably heavy frost without being destroyed, if the 

 plants have as many as two or three leaves, but the further it is ad- 

 vanced the better it will be for it. 



Quantity of Seed- — The quantity of seed required to give a good 

 stand of alfalfa under favorable soil and weather conditions will de- 

 pend largely upon the adulteration and vitality of the seed used. All 

 the way from 10 to 40 pounds of seed per acre have been recom- 

 mended ; but for ISTorth Carolina soils in good heart it will generally 

 be found that from 20 to 25 pounds of good pure seed will give an 

 excellent seeding. 



Manner of Seeding. — Seed may be put in drills or be broadcast. 

 The most common method, however, and the one that has generally 

 yielded the most satisfactory results, is to broadcast the seed on a 

 well-prepared seed-bed, going across the field both ways, in order to 

 secure a uniform distribution of the seed. After the seed are sown, 

 and before covered, the inoculating soil may be put on broadcast and 

 both be covered at the same time by means of a weeder or harrow 

 going lengthwise and then crosswise the field. The seed should gen- 

 erally be covered from one-half to two inches deep. In a soil of 

 a wet or compact nature less than one inch of covering will usually 

 prove sufficient, while on soils more or less open the seed may be 

 placed in the soil two or three inches, frequently with benefit. In 

 other words, the more open the soil, the deeper, other things being 

 equal, the seed may be put with safety. Should the land on which 



