708 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
At first alfalfa is a tender plant; the first few weeks of its life it is a 
mere thread of a plant. The rank growth of weeds, and especially foxtail, 
that we have here in June and July mean death to the little alfalfa plant 
every time. 
Fall sowing is a different proposition and is far more certain of suc- 
cess. However, it means work and lots of it. But don't be discouraged 
on that acount, for it is work that pays. Select your richest and best 
drained ground; from this you may take a crop of small grain or potatoes, 
anything that will leave the ground free to be worked by the latter part 
of July. By the first of August this ground should be plowed and 
plowed shallow, not over four inches deep. As you plow, harrow down 
all, every half day, so that no clods can form. Make what you would 
call a first class seed bed for corn, then apply eight or ten loads of 
manure per acre, the more the better, and harrow at least once a week 
for a month. If rains come, harrow as soon as it begins to dry. Pack 
the ground all that you can below, but keep the top inch or so loose. 
Aim to bring the moisture that is in the ground as close to the surface 
as you can and hold it there by means of the dust mulch. Remember 
that the alfalfa seed is small and that a loose seed bed, such as we wouM 
use for corn, would not do; but rather a solid, packed seed bed as we 
would use for fall wheat, and exceedingly well prepared. 
A good way of sowing is to use the seed attachment of a wheat drill, 
and put in the seed only deep enough to cover it. And now comes one 
of the most important parts, in my experience. Suppose that we have 
prepared our seed bed perfectly; that we have used at least twenty pounds 
of good seed per acre; that we have applied plenty of stable manure. 
The whole purpose of our preparation has been to conserve the moisture 
that is in the soil and to store it up. Now that the seed is sown we 
want to turn the full force of this moisture upon the little seeds. This 
can best be done by rolling or flanking the ground. This packs the dirt 
close to the little seeds, and the final packing of the ground forms the 
capillary connections which have been broken all the time by our dust 
mulch and allows the moisture to come to the surface just as oil comes 
up on a lamp wick. 
Of the fifteen acres that we sowed this fall we left one acre without 
rolling, but handled in every other way as the rest of the field had been, 
on this acre the stand was not as good by 50 per cent. 
Make a perfect bed. 
Use plenty of stable manure. 
And don't forget the roller. 
Non-irrigated seed is best, and it is better to buy it from an Iowa 
seedsman, as the Iowa pure seed law compels the Iowa seed companies to 
properly represent their seeds. 
By following the above methods we feel almost as certain of securing a 
stand of alfalfa as we would of securing a stand of corn. Whether it will 
stand our winters may be another question, but we have seen no tendency 
to winter-kill. We believe that it will winter all right. We have a three- 
acre piece that has made about twenty tons of hay, both last year and the 
year before, and is going into its third winter in fine condition. 
