7S8 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



CULTIVATION. 



Preparation of the Soil. - i 



It is very important that especial attention be given to the prepara- 

 tion of the soil upon which it is proposed to sow alfalfa. Not being 

 provided with creeping roots or stems, the plants will not spread as is 

 the case with such grasses as Kentucky bluegrass or Bermuda grass. 

 The individual plants become larger each year by the increasing size of 

 the crown, but bare spaces in a field will not be filled in except as new 

 seed may be sown. Furthermore, the young alfalfa plant is quite tender 

 and is easily crowded aside or choked out by weeds or checked in its 

 growth by lack of moisture or by other unfavorable conditions. For 

 these reasons it is highly desirable that a perfect stand be obtained by 

 the original seeding. 



Supply of plant food. — The soil conditions required for the best 

 growth of alfalfa have a Iready been pointed out. Assuming these condi 

 tions, it is still necessary that the soil should be fairly free from weeds, 

 especially such as are known to interfere seriously with alfalfa. In case 

 the soil from overcropping or natural sterility, is not sufficiently fertle, it 

 will be necessary to add fertilizer in some form. It is, therefore, desire- 

 able to commence the preparation of the soil at least a year previous to 

 sowing the alfalfa need. The preceding crop should be one which requires 

 ing the alfalfa seed. The preceding crop should be one which requires 

 cultivation such as corn cotton, or roots. The rotation may be such that 

 if the alfalfa is sown in the fall there is time in the summer to plow 

 the land and allow it to lie fallow. The weeds may then be destroyed as 

 they germinate, by occasional harrowings. Although alfalfa can obtain 

 its supply of nitrogen from the air when the plants are well started, it 

 is necessary that the soil should contain plenty of this element at the 

 time of sowing, in order to start the young plants with a vigorous 

 growth. The fertilizer which will accomplish the purpose most quickly 

 and most satisfactorily is good barnyard manure, free from weed seeds. 

 It is better to apply this to the land at the time of growing the preceding 

 crop, as the manure than has time to decompose and become available. 

 Barnyard manure not only supplies nitrogen and other elements, but it 

 supplies humus to the soil, and thus places it in a better physical con- 

 dition. In place of supplying the elements of fertility by an application 

 of manure the nitrogen and humus may be supplied by growing a suit- 

 able leguminous crop, such as red clover or Canada field peas in the 

 North, cowpeas or soy beans in the South. The foregoing may be sum- 

 moned up in the statement that the soil should be fertile and free from 

 weeds. 



Plowing and Harroiviiig. — The mechanical preraratlon of the soil 

 immediately preceding sowing depends much on its condition. For best 

 results the field should be prepared as for a garden. There are localities 

 in the western half of the United States where the soil is of such a nature 



