SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR-BOOK— PART VIII. 789 



that plowing is not necessary, especially if the fieuld can be irrigated; 

 but in the Eastern States plowing, thorough harrowing, and the use of 

 the disk, roller, or plank according to circumstances is to be advised. 

 SuBsoiling has been recommended but this is usually unnecessary. In 

 the dry regions, where the subsoil is compact, subsoiling will increase 

 the water-holding capacity of the soil. If the soil is wet by rain after 

 being prepared, and is then harrowed as soon as it can be worked, there 

 should result an excellent seed bed to receive the alfalfa. 



It is not best to sow alfalfa on freshly plowed land, for a loose seed 

 bed is unfavorable to the young plants. One or two good rains before 

 seeding improve the condition of the seed bed. It should, of course, be 

 harrowed as soon as in condition after each rain, to keep it from baking 

 before seeding. Alfalfa should not be sown on a field that has just had 

 a green crop turned under. Time should be allowed for the new material 

 to decay and for the acid to be worked out by one or two good rains. 



TIME FOR SOWING. 



In the Northern States and in the irrigated regions of the West, 

 alfalfa is usually sown in the spring. As has been pointed out. one of the 

 greatest enemies of young alfalfa is weeds, and spring sown alfalfa is 

 more likely to be choked out during the summer by weedy grasses, such 

 as crab grass, than is that sown in the summer. Toward the northern 

 limit of the alfalfa belt, however, the seasons are shorter and the plants 

 may not be sufficiently started to survive the winter in case the seeding 

 is done in the fall. Furthermore, the time of sowing is likely to be 

 influenced by the rotation of crops practiced on the farm. Where a 

 spring crop can be grown and removed in time to allow the sowing of 

 alfalfa in the summer there is no loss of the use of the soil; but in the 

 far North this does not give the alfalfa sufficient time to prepare for 

 winter. 



SOWING WITH A NURSE CROP. 



As a usual thing, at least from the standpoint of the alfalfa crop, it 

 is best to sow the alfalfa alone; but it is customary in many localities to 

 sow with grain. If the conditions are well suited to the growth of alfalfa 

 the stand may not be materially injured, and there is gained the crop of 

 grain; also the weeds are kept down while the alfalfa is getting started. 

 Usually, however, there is a loss of alfalfa, the resulting stand being 

 less satisfactory than when the alfalfa is sown alone. Whether this loss 

 is sufficiently compensated by the grain crop must be decided by the 

 grower. If the crop of alfalfa the second year is as good as if it had 

 been sown alone the grain crop has been gained where the sowing was 

 done in the spring; but if the stand is injured such a gain would not com- 

 pensate for this loss, as a poor stand can rarely be improved. Beardless 

 barley has been recommended for use in the Eastern States where a 

 nurse crop is often satisfactory. Whatever grain used the sowing should 

 be comparatively light, so as not to smother the alfalfa. If the grain 

 crop threatens to be too heavy it should be mowed for hay. 



