ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK- PART XI 581 



the quantity so that the drill will handle it properly. When drilling is 

 not convenient, the seed may be sown broadcast and lightly covered with 

 a harrow. 



The rate of seeding should be about 20 pounds per acre. 



INOCULATION. 



To get the most out of the alfalfa crop and, in fact, before it can make 

 its best development, the roots must be inoculated with the proper nodule 

 forming, nitrogen gathering bacteria. In the majority of cases where 

 alfalfa is sown for the first time, it will need to be inoculated by some 

 artificial means. The surest and most practical way to do this is to broad- 

 cast and harrow in, before sowing the seed, some earth from a good alfalfa 

 field where the bacteria are known to exist. At least two or three hundred 

 pounds of soil per acre should be used. In securing this soil, care should 

 be taken to secure it from a clean, healthy field so as to avoid the intro- 

 duction of weed seeds or plant diseases. Care must be exercised, also, 

 to guard against exposing the soil for inoculation to sunlight for too long 

 a time before sowing and harrowing it in as such exposure is detrimental 

 to the bacteria. Inoculation may also be effected by mixing and drilling 

 in with the alfalfa seed a small quantity of soil rich in bacteria, but the 

 success of this method is not fully established. The use of pure cultures 

 of alfalfa bacteria has not been generally satisfactory, and probably 

 because, with present methods, the bacteria are either dead before they 

 reach the farmer or he is not sufficiently careful in their application. Some 

 farmers are successfully inoculating their soil for alfalfa by sowing some 

 alfalfa seed with clover a year or two before sowing alfalfa alone. 



CLIPPING YOUNG ALFALFA. 



The information we have concerning the clipping of alfalfa during the 

 first season is too contradictory to permit of formulating any general 

 rule. It seems, however, that clipping has sometimes been overdone and 

 that young alfalfa should rather be allowed to grow undisturbed so long 

 as it is doing well and does not bloom. In the case of early seeding, one 

 clipping late in the summer will usually be sufficient. Generally speaking 

 clipping should be practiced only when the growth seems checked, or the 

 tops of the plants turn yellow. If not too heavy, the cut material should 

 be left on the ground to act as a mulch. In the case of summer seeding, 

 all growth should be allowed to die down naturally for protection over 

 winter. 



CUTTING FOR HAY. 



When alfalfa is used for hay it should be cut whenever the new shoots 

 at the crowns of the plants are well started. This is a better guide as 

 to the proper time of cutting than the appearance of blossoms. Whenever 

 the tops turn yellow, or the leaves become seriously affected by "leaf spot" 

 it should also be cut, even though the fresh shoots have not started. 



PASTURING. 



Alfalfa should never be pastured the first season, and in most cases 

 it will be best to use it for hay-making during the second season, in order 



