r.ATTT QWT?nirr , LENGTH OF ROOTS LENGTH OF STEMS 



DATE SEEDED 1914 MAY 12, 1915 MAY 12, 1915 



Inches Inches 



August 4 20 20 



August 25 ! 13 17 



September 15 10 13 



September 25 8 8 



Alfalfa Needs a Reasonably Fertile Soil 



Because alfalfa is a great soil enricher and can be grown on a wide 

 range of soils, all the way from heavy clays to sandy loams, it is 

 often tried out on the poorest and most worn-out part of the farm. 

 If the soil happens to be well supplied with limestone the crop will 

 do fairly well on rather poor land, but there is such a thing as a 



Fig. 40. Best to Choose a Sloping Field. 



Flat lands will grow alfalfa but smothering ice sheets like this may 

 cause winterkilling. 



farm being too poor to grow alfalfa. It may grow red clover or 

 sweet clover, but when the land becomes so deficient in organic 

 matter and fertility that we say it "won't grow beans" it will not 

 grow alfalfa without heavy applications of manure or fertilizer. 

 On the other hand, newly cleared lands, virgin soil and grass sods 

 may be very fertile and yet fail to produce good stands of alfalfa. 

 Such soils need first to be subdued by cropping a number of years 

 with such cultivated crops as corn or potatoes in rotation with grain 

 and clover to get rid of the bluegrass. 



A Loose Sub-Soil Best 



The subsoil must be considered. If it is loose and open, affording 

 good underdrainage, and is full of gravelly limestone, nothing could 

 be more ideal. If it is a tight, impenetrable hardpan within six or 

 eight inches of the surface beware. Shallower rooted crops, like 

 timothy, redtop or alsike clover, will do better. 



Choose a Gentle Slope 



A gentle slope should be selected. Flat land will grow alfalfa, 

 but winter-killing will be more serious. Water from rain or melting 

 snow gathers on the surface, and if freezing weather follows ice 

 sheets form and the alfalfa smothers out. Land in which the water 



43 



