Alfalfa in Kansas. 59 



FIG. 50. Cultivation should be with implements having nar- 

 row, blunted teeth, which are not so rigid but that they readily 

 dodge or slip to one side when striking an alfalfa crown. 

 [Courtesy Light Draft Harrow Co.] 



Where so many growers, all practical men, differ so widely in regard 

 to a practice, the reason probably may be found in the manner of perform- 

 ing the operation and the tools with which it is performed. This is evi- 

 denced by the following : 



Norton county: "If proper tools are used I think cultivation is a good 

 thing." 



Osage county: "I do not like a disk on account of its cutting and bruis- 

 ing the roots too much, causing decay. I sometimes use a common harrow 

 with the teeth set straight. I think a spring-tooth harrow, with lever, is 

 better." 



Ottawa county: "We find that disking with a common disk thins our 

 stand, and do not advocate the practice. A common harrow is better." 



Finney county: "Disking is injurious, in that it injures the crowns, 

 causing rot of the root. Cultivation with an implement having blunt 

 teeth may be beneficial if the surface soil becomes packed." 



Russell county: "I think it best to disk early, about the time alfalfa 

 starts lightly, with a spike disk or a sharp harrow. I don't like the 

 regular disks ; they thin the alfalfa too much." 



Rush county: "After the field is sown three or four years it may be 

 cultivated with an old hoe drill or a regular alfalfa cultivator, but not 

 disked." 



Ness county: "A narrow-pointed hoe drill, that will dodge the plants, 

 is good. I do not like a disk that splits the plant." 



Jewell county: "If you want to kill an alfalfa field just put a disk into 

 it. Use an alfalfa cultivator." 



Thomas county: "I do not think it good to use a disk harrow or a 

 spike-tooth disk. They split the crown. I claim splitting the crown is 

 injurious to the plant. I prefer a regular alfalfa cultivator of the latest 

 improved type." i 



Cherokee county: "Use something that will not split the crowns. The 

 alfalfa disk or spring-tooth harrow is good." 



Mitchell county: "My experience has been that disking cuts the alfalfa 

 crown to a great extent, whereas a cultivator does not." 



