230 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



FIG. 200. It is probable that, if liming soils becomes general in Kansas, portable crushers will 

 be used to a great extent, so as to save freight and drayage. [Courtesy New York Experiment 

 Station. ] 



not so great, roads are much better than in the eastern end, where rain- 

 fall often is excessive. 



Nowhere else in the world is good, hard limestone more abundant, nor 

 more easily quarried and crushed, and no better road-building material 

 is known than this same broken limestone, when properly mixed with 

 good Portland-cement mortar. In crushing rock for road making there 

 is a portion broken too finely for good service, and this could be sent to 

 the farms for liming soils. (See "Lime," in index.) 



ALFALFA SOILS; THEIR PREPARATION AND SEEDING. 



By L. E. CALL, Professor of Agronomy, Kansas State Agricultural College. 



SOILS. 



Alfalfa is undoubtedly more exacting in its soil requirements than 

 any other crop that is extensively grown on the farms of Kansas. The 

 crop, for its best development, must make a deep root growth. Conse- 

 quently, a soil to be well adapted to it must have a subsoil that is deep 

 and at the same time mellow enough to be readily penetrated by plant 

 roots. A good alfalfa soil must also be well drained, for alfalfa roots 

 are very sensitive to standing water. This crop is killed out in a very 

 short time if water stands in the soil within three feet or less of the sur- 

 face of the ground. 



While alfalfa is a crop that will improve the fertility of the soil, it is 

 at the same time one that requires a soil in a fairly high state of fer- 

 tility if it is to develop at its best. This is especially true of young 

 alfalfa plants. The young plants are not ravenous feeders, and must 

 have an abundance of readily available plant food if they are to be- 



