48 



Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



FIG. 42. An alfalfa seed scratcher. One reason why we plant so many pounds of alfalfa seed 

 per acre is the fact that many of the seeds have such hard coats that they do not germinate the 

 first year. Prof. H. D. Hughes, of the Iowa Experiment Station, invented this machine, with 

 which it is possible to increase the germination to 90 per cent of seed which before scarifying 

 did not germinate 10 per cent. [Courtesy Farm and Fireside.] 



TIME OF SEEDING. 

 TABLE No. 3. Growers' preference as to time of seeding. 



Growers preferring to sow alfalfa in the spring give as their prin- 

 cipal reasons: better moisture condition of the soil; less danger from 

 winterkilling; the avoidance of grasshoppers, which are most trouble- 

 some in the fall; and less danger from soil blowing. 



The advocates of fall sowing, on the other hand, contend: that there 

 is no trouble about weeds choking out the young plants (more than 65 

 per cent of them mentioning this point) ; that a fuller use of the land is 

 had in the year of seeding; and that a better crop of alfalfa is obtained 

 in the first growing season. These latter contentions are more clearly 



