234 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



ample rain for the best development of the crop. Inoculation is seldom 

 necessary, with the exception of the eastern edge of the area. In this part 

 of the region the soils are more shallow, drainage is usually not as good, 

 lime is present in smaller quantities, and many of the soils are not well 

 enough supplied with available plant food to grow alfalfa well, but over 

 the rest of the territory alfalfa can usually be successfully grown if a good 

 seed bed is prepared for the crop. 



Region IV constitutes that part of Kansas where the rainfall is too 

 light for alfalfa to be successfully grown unless supplied by irrigation, 

 flood or subsoil moisture. Consequently, practically no alfalfa is grown 

 in this region without irrigation, except on the alluvial bottom soils, 

 where the crop is supplied with subsoil moisture or where overflow water 

 has an opportunity to penetrate the soil. 



Alfalfa is sometimes utilized on the high land of this region for graz- 

 ing, but seldom makes a profitable hay crop. The creek and river bottom 

 soils of this region are well adapted to alfalfa. The climate is ideal for 

 curing hay, consequently hay of the finest quality is produced. The 

 climatic conditions are also of the best for seed production, and it is in 

 this region that a large part of the alfalfa seed in the state is produced. 

 (See "Soil," in index.) 



THE ALFALFA SEED BED. 



A good seed bed is the most important factor in securing a stand of 

 alfalfa, while a poor seed bed is the most frequent cause for failure in 

 starting the crop. A good seed bed must be well settled, firm, and have 

 a finely pulverized and mellow surface in which to sow the seed. A firm 

 seed bed is necessary in order to enable the crop to make the necessary 

 root development to successfully resist the heavy freezing weather of 

 the first winter, and to permit of ready movement of capillary moisture 

 to the plants. In order to secure a firm seed bed it is necessary to start 

 the preparation of the ground for the crop several weeks in advance of 

 seeding. This is especially true when the ground is plowed. The culti- 

 vation and lapse of time between plowing and seeding not only fur- 

 nishes time for the proper settling of the seed bed, but also enables the 

 bacteria of the soil to liberate plant food in sufficient quantities to start 

 the crop with promptness and vigor. When alfalfa is to be sown in the 

 fall, ground that has previously grown wheat or some spring grain makes 

 the best kind of a seed bed. The ground should be plowed as soon as 

 possible after removing the grain crop. The plowing should be com- 

 paratively shallow. In fact, if the soil is turned just deep enough to 

 cover the stubble and any weed growth that has started, it will be suffi- 

 cient. It is not desirable to plow deep in preparing a seed bed for al- 

 falfa, for ordinarily there is not sufficient time after the deep plowing 

 is done for the seed bed to become firmed and well settled. Where the 

 field has been plowed continuously at a shallow depth, and it is con- 

 sidered advisable to plow deep before planting alfalfa upon it, the deep 

 plowing should be done for the crop which precedes alfalfa rather than 

 in advance of alfalfa itself. After the field has been plowed it should 

 be cultivated sufficiently to keep down weed growth, to firm the soil, and 



