TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK-PART X 503 



duced into the field if due care is not exercised. If the seed is not clean 

 it should be run over a dodder screen. Foreign seeds are more dangerous 

 than inert material, hence it behooves us to look to this very closely. 



Any farmer can make a germination test for vitality, and this the only 

 safe and accurate way of knowing whether the seed will grow. Place 

 some sand on a plate and cover it with a piece of blotting paper or cloth. 

 Upon this place one hundred kernels of alfalfa seed which have been 

 taken from the lot. Place another cloth or paper over this and moisten 

 it, but use care not to get it too wet. Then cover with another inverted 

 plate and set aside in the living room. At the end of a week the seeds 

 may be counted and from those germinating the per cent calculated. Those 

 which germinate within four or five days may be considered strong in 

 vitality and very good seed; while a weakly germ denotes poor seed which 

 will perhaps only grow under the best of field conditions. Good seed 

 should test better than eighty-five per cent and will require the minimum 

 amount of seed per acre, while mixtures of strong and weak will require 

 a heavier rate of seeding. 



QUANTITY TO SOW. 



Growers are less agreed on the actual amount of seed required to se- 

 cure a good stand than on any one point connected with alfalfa culture. 

 The quantity varies from eight to twenty-five pounds per acre, and there 

 are many instances where perfect stands have been obtained from seeding 

 ten to twelve pounds. A larger quantity seems a waste. The Ohio Expe- 

 riment Station has found that five, ten, fifteen, twenty and twenty-five 

 pounds per acre gave yields respectively of seven thousand eight hundred 

 sixty-two, eight thousand six hundred forty-eight, eight thousand five hun- 

 dred fifty-seven, and seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-six pounds 

 per acre. According to Farmers Bulletin No. 339, one pound of alfalfa 

 seed contains over two hundred twenty thousand seeds, which give more 

 than fifty plants for every square foot, if sown at the rate of ten pounds 

 per acre and all seeds grew-. This is quite sufficient for any soil, and a 

 good seed bed with a uniform distribution would insure this result. The 

 concensus of opinions, and the practice of most successful growers on 

 both non-irrigated and irrigated land is, to sow about fifteen pounds to 

 the acre. 



METHOD OF SEEDING. 



The average farmer does not have a special grass drill, neither does 

 he look favorably towards the suggestion of purchasing one. Consequent- 

 ly the alfalfa must be seeded wuth the machinery already on hand. An 

 investment in a special seeder would more than pay for itself if any con- 

 siderable acreage is to be sown to alfalfa. Alfalfa can be sown with any 

 good wheat drill if it is mixed with finely ground corn or with some dried 

 boiled millet seed. The Oklahoma Experiment Station recommends that 

 a mixture be made of two-thirds ground meal and one-third alfalfa. With 

 such a mixture from three and one-half to four and one-half pecks will 

 be required to supply from twelve to fifteen pounds of seed. With grass 

 seeder attachment or a drill the feed can be properly adjusted to the 

 proper quantity. We must bear in mind to run the shoes shallow, for the 



