GROWING ALFALFA SEED. 463 



light rainfall but one crop, or at best two crops, of alfalfa bay 

 can be secured in each season. 



Next to the problem of providing and maintaining a firm, 

 moist seed bed, the controlling of the weeds offers the greatest 

 difficulty. This is especially true during the first season, when 

 their rapid growth makes it difficult to control them by cultiva- 

 tion owing to the danger of covering the small alfalfa plants. 



It is expected that the machinery now in use in most com- 

 munities can be adapted to the growing of seed in rows. While 

 the results indicate that the row method of culture will probably 

 become an efficient factor in the development of the semi-arid 

 regions, too much must not be expected of it. Those undertaking 

 the work will be pioneers. To them will fall the task of develop- 

 ing new devices and special adaptations of the implements at 

 hand, upon which will depend in large measure the practical suc- 

 cess of the method. 



The alfalfa plant requires but a small supply of moisture when 

 seed setting is going on. Heavy seed crops are to a large extent 

 dependent upon the prevalence during this time of a certain 

 amount of dry weather knd heat. In many parts of the semi-arid 

 regions an unusually favorable combination of these conditions is 

 present. The power to regulate by surface tillage the supply of 

 soil moisture makes the method of growing alfalfa in cultivated 

 rows for seed of especial romise in those parts of the Great 

 Plains, intermountain area, and other sections where the average 

 annual rainfall ranges from 14 to 20 inches. 



Alfalfa in Dry Farming. P. K. Blinn, of the Colo- 

 rado agricultural college, thus tersely advises those 

 attempting dry farming: 



If a farmer on the dry plains has a well that will furnish just 

 enough water for fifty head of stock, it would be absurd for him 

 to try to keep sixty or seventy head on the same supply of water; 

 and it is equally ridiculous for him to attempt to crowd plants in 

 soil where the moisture is limited. 



Some plants may develop with less moisture than others, but 

 alfalfa is not one of these plants; on the other hand, it is con- 

 ceded by all western farmers than an abundance of moisture is 

 the key to success in growing alfalfa for hay. When it is well 

 established, alfalfa will endure long droughts and still revive 

 when water is applied; to that extent it is adapted to dry farming, 

 and its deep-rooting tendency may enable the crop to grow without 

 irrigation, if the roots can penetrate to moist soil. There are 

 many localities on the plains where the run-off from heavy show- 



