Alfalfa in Kansas. 



47 





FIG. 40. Scatter inoculated soil over uninoculated fields at the rate of 300 to 500 

 pounds per acre and harrow it in immediately. [Courtesy Wisconsin Experiment 

 station.] 



Montgomery county: "We buy the best goods we can get." 



Rush county : "I have had little trouble when buying first-grade seed." 



Many believe home-grown seed most likely to be clean, and report 

 something like this: 



Lyon county: "With twenty- 

 five years' experience risking my 

 eyes trying to find adulterants in 

 home-grown seed, I find a very 

 small proportion of impurities." 



Wilson county: "We buy only 

 tested seed, and that nearly al- 

 ways from neighbors we know." 



That recleaning is often a 

 profitable practice is the testi- 

 mony of quite a number of grow- 

 ers, who report in a manner 

 similar to the Lane county man 

 who says, "I always thoroughly 

 reclean my seed in a good fanning 

 mill before planting." 



The principal adulterants and 



FIG. 41. A homemade device for testing 

 seeds. "A" closed, "B" open. See page 207. 

 [Courtesy U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture.] 



impurities reported as found in 

 alfalfa seed are the seeds of 

 foxtail, crab grass, pigweed, Rus- 

 sian thistle, and dodder, in the 



order named. "Weed seed" is mentioned quite often, in a general way, 

 without naming the particular kind. (See pages 205 to 214.) 



As to age, one grower reports success in planting alfalfa seed that 

 was five or six years old. 



