226 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



in our fields. In this year's seeding (1910) there are 

 many rods of alfalfa with not one weed nor one spear 

 of foxtail grass, but only clean, healthy alfalfa, whereas 

 "in our neighborhood alfalfa is so overgrown with weeds 

 that it is doubtful whether it will survive at all. We 

 have learned one encouraging lesson ; foxtail may readily 

 be exterminated. It requires but one year's perfectly 

 clean cultivation to accomplish this, as the seed will not 

 lie dormant in the earth as will seeds of some other weeds. 

 It pays, then, to keep' the land clean where alfalfa is to 

 be sown the following year. 



Depth of Plowing. In parts of the Old World men 

 plow much more deeply than we do in America. In 

 France it is common to plow 20" deep for alfalfa. It 

 has been our experience that, commonly, the deeper land 

 is plowed for alfalfa the better the health and vigor of 

 the plants, and the less danger from weeds. Soils vary, 

 subsoils sometimes containing much more carbonate of 

 lime than do surface soils above them. Where this con- 

 dition obtains it pays to plow as deeply as one can. I 

 have seen clean, vigorous, thrifty alfalfa on deep-plowed 

 land and just alongside it poor, thriftless, weed-infested 

 plants where it had been plowed shallow. Oh the other 

 hand, there are doubtless soils where deep plowing would 

 do no especial good. The new type of disk plow or 

 "tilling machine" that uses two disks, both in one fur- 

 row, one under the other, promises to be a great aid to 

 alfalfa-growing. Deep-plowed land will hold much 

 more moisture than shallow-plowed, which is a decided 

 advantage nearly everywhere, as there is seldom or never 

 enough moisture in the soil throughout the season. As 



