Alfalfa in Kansas. 



49 



understood when one considers that a fall sowing is usually preceded by 

 an early maturing crop in the same season, and that a crop sown in the 

 preceding fall and coming successfully through the winter is quite likely 

 to give a higher yield of hay in the first growing season than a crop 

 sown in the spring. A typical opinion, from a Wabaunsee county ad- 

 vocate of fall sowing, reads: "The plants get a good start in the fall, 

 without weeds, and we have three good crops the following year; 

 whereas by sowing in the spring there is a continual mowing of annual 

 weeds, without getting a crop to speak of the first year." 



These preferences and reasons seem entirely consistent with climatic 

 and other conditions. For instance: in the western third of the state, 

 where the rainfall is light, where grasshoppers are most numerous, and 

 where the cold winter winds are more apt to sweep the prairies, the con- 

 ditions are preponderantly unfavorable to fall seeding; whereas in the 

 eastern third of the state, where the spring rains are so much greater, 

 and favorable to the growth of weeds and to a more complete use of the 

 soil, spring seeding is bound to be attended with much greater risk than 

 is fall seeding. In the central third, where these two extremes merge, 

 preference should reasonably and naturally be expected to be about evenly 

 divided. 



The answers in reply to the question about the exact dates of sowing 

 were extremely variable, indicating the influence of varying weather and 

 other conditions. Spring plantings are made as early as from about 

 March 1 to as late as about June 1, and sometimes a little later. They are 

 most often made between March 15 and May 15. Fall plantings are 

 usually made from about August 15 to September 15, some a little earlier 

 and some a little later. It would seem that in the spring it is the custom 

 to wait until danger from hard freezing is past, and to sow before it 

 becomes too hot and dry, while in the fall it is necessary to wait until the 

 fall rains make the soil-moisture condition favorable, but not until it is so 

 late that the plants can not become well established before winter. (See 

 page 235.) 



NURSE CROP. 



The use of a nurse crop is not general over the state. 



TABLE No. 4. Preference for or against a nurse crop. 



Analysis of the replies of those having experience with a nurse crop, 

 as compared with the time of sowing, shows 54 per cent of the spring 

 sowers to be against a nurse crop and 46 per cent for it, while the fall 

 sowers stand 81 per cent against and 19 per cent for it. Nearly all of 

 the spring sowers who favor a nurse crop are located in the eastern part 



