288 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The following conclusions may be drawn from these data : The 

 date of seeding varies from very early spring until about the middle 

 of September, the months in which alfalfa is most commonly seeded be- 

 ing M;iy and Juno, with the latter half of June as the ni<ist |)0])ul:u' half 

 month. Aside from the fact that the late August and September feed- 

 ings have been less satisfactory than the earlier seedings, the date of 

 seeding is not of much im])ortance as compared with the preparation of 

 the seed bed and sovernl other factors. On the tncdinm and heavy soil 

 types especially, the early summer seeding nuiy be safely recommended, 

 the chief advantnge in seeding at tliis time being that the seed bed mny 

 be more thoroughly prepared and the weeds more thoroughly eradicated 

 than in the earlier seedings. and the alfalfa will make a larger growth 

 and be in a better condition to survive the winter than the late summer 

 or fall seedings. 



Fig. IV. A productive field of alfalfa near Holton, Muskegon County. 



While the data in Table VII does not indicate strongly any particular 

 date of seeding as best, it is probably true that on light soils where a 

 summer drought is apt to be very serious, the early or middle spring 

 is as favorable a time as any for seeding, providing a fairly favorable 

 seed bed can be prepared. 



USE OF NURSE CROP VS. SEEDING ALOXE. 



A .summary of lh<' data (Wi the use of nurse crops in seeding alfalfa 

 is presented in Table X. Fifty-two jx'r cent of the early (spring) 

 seedings, over ninety of the eai'ly summer seedings, over eighty-five per 

 cent of the late summer and fall seedings, and seventy-live per cent of 

 all the seedings were made without a nurse croj). A consideration of 

 the.se facts and the large ])ercen(age of the seedings (hat were success- 

 ful would indicate that the use of a nurse crop is not an essential 



