800 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The alfalfa plant while young, like other plants that start from small 

 seeds, is quite tender and must be given very favorable conditions. A very 

 carefully prepared seed bed is essential. "A deeply plowed and well har- 

 rowed" seed bed is the kind that alfalfa does not want. It is the writers 

 opinion that the plow, when run deep in preparing land for alfalfa, has 

 been the cause of more failures than any other one thing. Alfalfa wants 

 has a solid seed bed. The first root that alfalfa' sends out grows down, and 

 it wants to find good solid soil very soon. The young plant begins to take 

 its first food from the soil immediately surrounding the seed. Il this has 

 recently been turned up from way down deep, the plant food in it is not 

 in condition to be utilized. 



In humid regions, owing to the prevalence of weeds, it is usually found 

 most satisfactory to seed in late summer. The ideal plan would be to give 

 the ground an ordinary plowing in the spring and then by frequent shal- 

 low cultivations retain the moisture and keep the weeds down until the 

 10th or 15th of August, and then seed. If spring seeding is to be tried, 

 the land should be fall plowed and put into good condition. 



Alfalfa will doubtless be successful on the average Iowa soil that has 

 good drainage. It should never be sown on land subject to overflow or 

 that is flat and slow in draining and drying off. 



Alfalfa should not be seeded with any other crop. If seeded in the 

 spring it is absolutely essential that it be mowed several times during the 

 first summer. No crop of hay is expected from alfalfa the first season, 

 but it must be mowed or it will bloom, go to seed, and die, or be so weak- 

 ened that it will not survive the winter. ^ The mowings should be fre- 

 quent enough so that whatever weeds and alfalfa are cut may be left on 

 the field as a mulch. If the best results are to be obtained alfalfa should 

 not be allowed to produce seed until at least three years old. It is cut for 

 hay when one half in bloom. Fall seeding may not need to be mowed, 

 but if any blooms appear, or if the weeds make too vigorous a growth, the 

 mower should be used. The mower should not run too close. One to two 

 inches above ground is a safe height to cut. 



The securing of seed is also very important. Seed grown in the irri- 

 gated districts should not be used in the humid sections. Alfalfa adapts 

 its habits to conditions very readily, though not instantaneously. When 

 possible, seed should be secured from a locality very similar to that in 

 which it is to be sown. 



