SPRING SEEDING OF ALFALFA 225 



ing. In northern Ohio, where is located our experiment 

 station, midsummer seeding seems best, while in central 

 Ohio, where is Woodland Farm, spring seeding has al- 

 ways been most successful. It seems to be largely a 

 matter of previous treatment of the soil; where land 

 has been permitted to become very much infested with 

 weeds it is hardly safe to sow alfalfa in spring until 

 a course of cleansing has been given; where the land 

 is fairly clean spring seeding is best. It also follows 

 lime to a greater or less degree. For example, in the 

 lime lands of Alabama men can often sow alfalfa in 

 spring, midsummer or fall, while in most of the South 

 only fall-seeding is safe, because of weeds and crab- 

 grass. There is a steady increase in the call for seed 

 during June, July and August so that now rather more 

 than half what some seedsmen sell goes at this season, 

 whereas once nearly all was sold in February, March and 

 April. 



Clean Land Essential to Spring Seeding. I am sure 

 that few farms could have shown more weeds in corn- 

 fields than once we grew on Woodland Farm. After 

 we began growing alfalfa, however, and became de- 

 sirous of having a clean seedbed for it, we learned to 

 cultivate better and to clean out the cornfields with hoes 

 after the corn was "laid by." The cost of this we found 

 was not great, and we warred especially on redroot, 

 lambsquarter and pigeongrass, or foxtail. All these are 

 bad weeds in young alfalfa; the foxtail nearly kills 

 it and is bad in old meadows as well. We had no hope 

 that our efforts would result in more than lessening the 

 weeds, but already we have found a marvelous change 



