EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



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factor in the seeding of alfalfa in Michigan, In the seedings made 

 before June 1st, slightly better results have been secured with a nurse 

 crop than without, but in both the early and late summer seedings, 

 much better results have been secured without than with a nurse crop, 

 Oats, barley, wheat, rye and buckwheat were reported as having been 

 us€d as nurse croi)s, but no conclusive data can be elaborated in regard 

 to a choice between these. 



TABLE X.— INFLUENCE OF NURSE CROP IN SEEDING ALFALFA. 



Under favorable conditions of seeding the use of a nurse crop would 

 not seem to be advisable. The young alfalfa needs no protection from 

 the sun and is more abundantly supplied with moisture and plant 

 food when seeded alone than when seeded with a more vigorous grow- 

 ing plant to compete against it. On very light soils that are apt to be 

 moved by the wind and on steep hillsides that are subject to washing, 

 a nurse crop should of course be nsed. The nurse crop may also be 

 advisable on fields that are in course of preparation for only a short 

 time and the weeds not thoroughly eradicated. Under these con- 

 ditions the nurse crop may assist in holding the weeds in check, and 

 may be more easily eradicated and less objectionable generally than 

 the common weeds. Very late seedings that are apt not to be in hardy 

 condition at beginning of winter, may be somewhat protected by the 

 seeding of a nurse crop although it is considered better to seed alone 

 and apply with manure spreader, after a few weeks, a medium coat 

 of well rotted manure to protect the young plants through the winter. 



Two of the best crops for use as nurse crops in spring seedings are 

 the fall wheat and rye as the growth is not as vigorous or the alfalfa 

 as thoroughly shaded as with the use of spring grains. Beardless bar- 

 ley is more satisfactory than oats. 



The nurse crop should be cut for hay rather than harvested for 

 grain, as in the latter case the alfalfa is apt to remain spindling and 

 tender until the nurse crop is removed, when it is exposed to the sun 

 during the hottest part of the summer and is apt to die out badly. 

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