SEEDING AND CUTTING. 207 



Rain may come, certainly, but often in only sufficient 

 amount to bring the seed up, or merely to germinate 

 it, and underneath there is dust. Thus the seed- 

 lings perish before they can get their rootlets at- 

 tached to the subsoil. So wait till there is moist 

 soil enough not merely to bring up the seeds but 

 to let their rootlets feed and penetrate on down. 



Inoculation an Aid. When sowing alfalfa either 

 in July or August one must remember that the time 

 until fall and killing frosts is short, so do all that he 

 can to hurry it forward. Thus it is well if the land 

 has never had alfalfa on it before, nor ever been 

 manured with manure made from feeding alfalfa 

 hay, to inoculate the soil. Inoculation hastens 

 growth in young alfalfa immensely. Soil from a 

 successful alfalfa field, or soil from a patch of mel- 

 ilotus or sweet clover, or soil from where burr 

 clover grew is usually successful in inoculating al- 

 falfa. The various cultures of beneficent bacteria 

 have not worked well in field practice, we regret to 

 say. So take earth from some other field and inoc- 

 ulate the place you expect to put your new sown 

 alfalfa in. There are various ways of distributing 

 this inoculation. If the soil has been thoroughly 

 well limed, or is naturally well stored with carbon- 

 ate of lime, and if it has had some manure, inocula- 

 tion will "take" in it and go through the field very 

 rapidly, once give it a start. 



Seeding. Sow it in any manner most convenient, 

 either through a wheelbarrow seeder or through a 

 drill, taking great care not to drill it in too deep. 



