236 CROP PRODUCTION 



The long tap-root and other characteristics of the 

 Alfalfa plant especially adapt it to the deep soils and the 

 long seasons of the southern and western states. In 

 Arizona the crop can be cut over eight times in a single 

 season. But the plant also has decided value in the 

 northern and eastern states. As its requirements are 

 being better understood it is becoming a standard crop 

 even in New England. Although it probably cannot 

 take the place in eastern agriculture that it does in western 

 regions, it can become of greatest importance here. 



Culture 



Alfalfa is more difficult to get well started than many 

 other crops. It requires a rich, non-acid, weed-free 

 soil, in good tilth, in which the nodule-forming bacteria 

 are present. Many eastern soils must be treated with 

 lime to counteract their acid condition and nearly all 

 must be inoculated with Alfalfa or sweet clover bacteria. 

 To do this a few bushels of soil from ground in which 

 either of these plants have been growing thriftily are 

 scattered over each acre to be seeded and quickly har- 

 rowed in. Late summer or early autumn is the best 

 time for seeding. 



Much of the value of Alfalfa lies in the leaves. It is 

 important that the crop be cut early enough to save these 

 from dropping off. As soon as ten per cent of the heads 

 are in blossom it is time to cut the crop. The new crop 

 of stems and leaves start sooner and better after such 

 early cutting. 



Enemies 



It is not strange that a crop grown over large areas 

 for many years in the same soil should have developed 



