-68 Rural School Leaflet. 



Experiment IV 



Alfalfa 



By G. F. Warren 



There are four things which often cause failure of alfalfa, — weeds, 

 lack of lime in the soil, lack of inoculation, and lack of fertility. On 

 some farms all four of these points need to be considered ; on some they 

 may all be ignored and still be successful; on other farms one or more 

 of them must be taken into account. In order to see whether alfalfa 

 will grow on the school grounds and in order to see how best to grow it, 

 lay out the following plats, each one a rod square. Drive stakes at each 

 comer. 



Sow about eight quarts of lime on plats 2 and 4; that is, four quarts 

 for each square rod, which is equivalent to twenty bushels on an acre. 

 Obtain some soil from a place where alfalfa or sweet clover is growing, 

 and scatter a few quarts of it on plats 3 and 4, being careful not to get 

 any of it on the other plats. Sow a light seeding of oats, or preferably 

 barlev. A little over a quart of either one is sufhcient. Sow three- 

 fourths of a pound of alfalfa on the area and rake it all in. 



After the soil has been sown on the plats, care should be exercised 

 not to rake any of the soil from the plats that receive inoculation to 

 those which did not receive inoculation (the soil from the alfalfa or sweet 

 clover field carries bacteria for inoculation). 



No further care will need to be given to the plats until the barley has 

 headed out, when it should be mown for hay, cutting it rather high. 

 The oats or barley should not be allowed to mature, because if allowed 

 to do so thev are about as bad for the alfalfa as the weeds which they 

 are designed to displace. 



