236 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



sown in the spring made a good stand, but did not produce a hay crop 

 the first season, while the field that was in wheat produced forty bushels 

 of grain to the acre, and a good stand of alfalfa was secured following 

 the wheat. This season (1915) the field sown in the fall has produced 

 within a ton as much hay as the field sown in the spring. Thus, the 

 wheat crop grown in 1914 preceding alfalfa was secured without sac- 

 rificing to any great extent the alfalfa crop this season. (See "Seeding," 

 in index.) 



In sections of Kansas where the rainfall is usually abundant in the 

 spring, satisfactory stands are sometimes obtained by planting alfalfa 

 with a nurse crop, such as oats, barley, or even by spring planting in 

 winter wheat. The nurse crop should be planted thinner than when it is 

 planted alone, and if the season turns dry, should, in order to save the 

 alfalfa, be cut early for hay. This method of planting alfalfa is not 

 satisfactory as a rule, and is not to be recommended except in special 

 cases. (See "Nurse Crop," in index.) 



Starting Alfalfa on Sandy Soils. 



It is sometimes desirable to seed alfalfa on sandy soils, especially along 

 the creek and river valleys. Such soils, if not too sandy, will usually 

 grow alfalfa successfully after it is once established. It is difficult to 

 start the crop on account of the sand drifting in high winds and cutting 

 off the young alfalfa plants. A number of farmers along the Arkansas 

 river valley have succeeded in starting alfalfa on soils of this character 

 by preceding the alfalfa with sown sweet sorghum or cane. The cane 

 is cut in th fall for hay in such a way that the stubble is left high. The 

 next spring, after danger of high winds is past and when spring rains 

 start, the alfalfa is drilled in the cane stubble, which is left standing 

 to protect the young alfalfa plants. In this way good stands of alfalfa 

 have been secured on soils too sandy otherwise to grow the crop. Old 

 fields of alfalfa on soils of this character should usually be allowed to 

 make some growth in the fall to protect the crown of the plant during 

 winter and the following spring. Light applications of barnyard manure 

 applied in the winter also serve as a protection to the crop and supply 

 plant food and organic matter to the soil, which eventually is beneficial 

 to the alfalfa. 



INOCULATING FOR ALFALFA. 



Alfalfa requires for its growth large quantities of nitrogen. It is this 

 large amount of nitrogen in the plant that makes the crop so rich in pro- 

 tein and, therefore, such a valuable feed. Most soil can not supply from 

 the soil itself the large quantity of nitrogen that the crop requires. 

 Fortunately, alfalfa is not usually dependent upon the soil for its supply 

 of nitrogen. There are tiny bacteria that live in nodules upon the roots 

 of the alfalfa plants that secure nitrogen from the inexhaustible supply of 

 this material in the air. The nitrogen gathered in this way is used by the 

 bacteria in their life processes, but is eventually given off by these organ- 

 isms in such a way that it is available to the alfalfa plants. Very few 

 soils are rich enough in nitrogen to grow alfalfa without the aid of these 

 bacteria, consequently, when the alfalfa bacteria are not present in the 



