THIRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XH 



691 



Fig. 25. — Impurities and adulterants most commonly found in alfalfa 

 seed: 1. Buckhorn (Plantago Lanceolata) 3 seeds. 2. Broad Plantain 

 (Plantago Major) 3 seed. 3. Green Foxtail (Chaetochloa viridis) 3 

 seed. 4. Curley Dock (Rumex crispus) 3 seed. 5. Bracted Plantain 

 (Plantago aristata) 3 seed. 6. Yellow Foxtail (Chaetochloa glauca) 2 

 seed. 7. Pig- Weed (Amaranthus retroflexus) 3 seed. 8. Clover dodder 

 (Cuscuta Epithymum) 4 seed. 9. Yellow trefoil (Medicago Lupulina) 4 

 seed. 10. White Sweet Clover (Melilotus Alba) 7 seed. 11. Bur Clover 

 (Medicago Menticulata) 3 seed. 



The Experiment Station stands ready at all times to test for farmers, 

 free of cost, any sample of seeds. 



RATE OF SEEDIXG 



Twenty pounds of alfalfa seed per acre is usually considered the 

 safest amount to use. Something like 73 per cent of farmers reporting 

 on the rate of seeding used 20 pounds per acre, 12 per cent used less, 

 averaging 17 pounds, and 15 per cent used more, averaging 22 pounds 

 per acre. 



When a good quality of seed is used and put in with a drill, 20 pounds 

 per acre may be too much, as this will place about 100 seeds on each 

 square foot of ground. After alfalfa is well set, ten plants to a square 

 foot is enough to give a yield of from 4 to 6 tons per acre. However, in 

 the first year after seeding, before each plant is thoroughly established, a 

 small number of plants per acre would mean a comparatively low yield. 

 The increased cut from the first year's crop will probably more than pay 

 for the additional seed used in the heavier rates of seeding. A number 

 of tests show this, but more are necessary before a definite statement 

 can be made regarding our Iowa conditions. Fred Woolley, of Garden 

 Grove, Iowa, who is trying to replace red clover with alfalfa in a regular 

 four years' rotation, reports a good stand v^hen seeding as little as 6 

 pounds of alfalfa seed with the oats in the spring. Others report that 

 they prefer to use more than 20 pounds per acre rather than less. Too 

 thick seeding may so crowd the plants as to weaken them. 



When the rainfall is exceedingly low or where the alfalfa is to be 

 cut for seed a very much lighter seeding is to be recommended; 4 to 12 

 pounds per acre being sufficient. 



