354 LUCERNE. ALFALFA. 



soil ; utterly refuses to thrive on a compact clay subsoil, or in a 

 hard bottom of any kind ; while young it is a weak plant and a 

 poor fighter ; requires two or three years to become well " rooted " 

 and established; it should be sown after settled weather has 

 come in the spring, without another crop, on well prepared land. 

 Sow in drills about eight inches apart, and hoe or cultivate once 

 or more to keep the weeds and other plants in check. It is not 

 often well worth while to use Alfalfa where the land is to be 

 plowed up every three to five years. This plant is a perennial, 

 and on suitable soil can be relied on to produce good crops for 

 many years in succession. It stands dry weather admirably; is 

 very nutritious ; like other legumes, it is a collector of nitrogen. 

 It must he mown when young and just beginning to flower, for 

 the stems quickly become woody and rapidly deteriorate in value. 

 This is a favorite for irrigated meadows and soiling, and is fre- 

 quently cut three to eight times in the year, yielding enormous 

 crops of valuable fodder for all kinds of live stock except in iso- 

 lated places. Alfalfa or Lucerne is not a favorite north of Ken- 

 tucky. Perhaps it is because clovers and the grasses thrive so well, 

 and these can be sown broadcast and are often started with another 

 croj). Again, the farmer looks with distrust on a plant which 

 is so slow starting and needs weeding to keep it growing. Al- 

 falfa endures extreme dry weather much better than the true 

 clovers and grasses. 



This is easily accounted for, when we understand that the 

 roots become woody, as large as a pipe stem to half an inch or 

 more in diameter, and have been known to extend ten or twelve, 

 or even twenty feet below the surface. 



An old, thick field of Lucerne is very diflBcult to turn over 

 with the plow. 



Those who have tried imported seed of Lucerne with seed of 

 Alfalfa from California claim that plants of the latter will not 

 endure the cold as well, but will stand heat and drought better. 



