280 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the seed bed. In Table V is given anotlier summary, based on the length 

 of time in which the seed bed was in course of preparation. In these 

 tables the importance of having a firm seed bed is clearly indicated 

 and in the latter is shown the difficnlty of securing this condition in 

 the seed bed ]>repared in a short time. These data are borne out by 

 observations of many alfalfa fields in which the stand has been better 

 and the growth more satisfactory where the horses had turned or where 

 the field for any reason had been more thoroughly firmed. 



Another very important consideration in preparing to seed alfalfa 

 is the eradication of the weeds. The alfalfa seed is rather slow to germ- 

 inate and the young plants make a slow growth for sometime. As 

 demonstrated by the Kansas Station about i/o o^ the plants in a nor.nal 

 stand of alfalfa die out in the first one or two years. Many of <he 

 weeds, especially such grasses as June Grass and quack grasps are vigor- 

 ous crowders and if they once get a foothold will, after a time, take 



TABLE v.— INFLUENCE OF SEED BED IN SEEDING ALFALFA. 



possession of the field. ITnlike the seeding of clover it is generally de- 

 sirable to leave a good stand of alfalfa for several years. For these 

 several reasons it is important to have the weeds more thoroughly 

 eradicated than for other crops of the farm. It is not sufiScient simply 

 to have a seed bed free from weeds at the time of seeding but the soil 

 should be cultivated long enough after plowing to germinate and destroy 

 most of the weed seeds in the surface soil so that the alfalfa shall have 

 but little competition from the weeds until it is sufficiently well es- 

 tablished in the soil to make a rapid growth. 



