234 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



sowing, and very good returns have been gotten by sowing in July. 

 From fifteen to t\\enty pounds per acre is the ordinary rate of seed- 

 ing. Twenty pounds is usually l)est, unless the seed is very good and 

 the ground is in very good condition. The seed is best broadcasted and 

 lightly harrowed in, and a more even stand will l)e secured if one-half 

 the seed is sown ^^■hen the sower is walking north and south and the 

 other half when walking east and west, The seed may also be drilled 

 Avith a grain drill, using the grass seed 'spouts and running the seed 

 through the hoes. l)ut this is not ordinarily as satisfactory as broad- 

 casting. 



3. The seed bed must be well prepared. For spring seeding it 

 should be plowed in the fall preferably, so as to allow it to be well 

 settled below. This settling is very essential. It should be worked to 

 an excellent seed bed on the surface. For fall sowing the land should 

 be plowed early, preferably in June or July. It should be plowed deep 

 and weir settled below by thorough working. It should then be kept 

 harrowed frequently to conserve the moisture and kill the weeds as 

 they start until time to sow. 



4. Inoculation on uplands which have never grown alfalfa before 

 is beneficial and usually necessary to success. This is especially true 

 of regions where sweet clover does not grow. Where sweet clover grows 

 commonly, the land is usually inoculated for alfalfa. Bottom lands 

 which overflow never need inoculating. Inoculation is best accom- 

 plished by scattering on two or three hundred pounds per acre of soil 

 from an old alfalfa field, and harrowing in immediately. This harrow- 

 ing in shriiild be done so as not to expose these bacteria to sunlight for 

 any length of time. The soil for inoculation may also be dried away 

 from the sun, sifted and drilled in with an ordinary fertilizer grain 

 drill. 



5. Liming is beneficial to alfalfa on many South ]\Iissouri soils, 

 and it is sometimes necessary to success. To begin with, however, one 

 should learn to grow alfalfa on good land that does not need lime if 

 he has such land on the place. AVhere lime is used, it should be applied 

 at the rate of three or four thousand pounds per acre in a convenient 

 form, except that from gas works, which contains injurious compomids. 

 The ground limestone is the cheapest where large amounts are to be 

 applied. Few of the very fertile lands in Alissouri need lime. 



6. On lands of medium to low fertility, manuring is usually essen- 

 tial to success, applying from ten to fifteen tons of manure before 

 plowing. Fall top-dressing with manure, if applied with a manure 

 spreader, four to six loads per acre, is very good practice on such lands. 

 Care should be taken to use clean manure, free of grass and weed seeds. 



