88 FARM AND SCHOOL PROBLEMS. 



a space nearly equal to one square foot, while in some of the 

 poorer regions there may be five or six plants per square foot. 



Every farmer should make a seeding experiment when he 

 sows his alfalfa. A trial application of lime should be made on 

 some part of- the field. 



The results should be noted carefully, as this will be the 

 best possible test in determining whether the soil needs liming. 



NOTE. (See Liming the Soil, Chapter V.) 



The same tests in the use of lime should be made in seed- 

 ing red clover. Good soil, inoculation, lime and manure, with 

 about the same care given to alfalfa will insure success with 

 June and mammoth clover. 



NEED OF PLANT FOOD. 



Lime and inoculation alone will not insure success in growing 

 alfalfa. A ton of alfalfa hay removed from the field takes with 

 it about twelve pounds of phosphoric acid and about thirty-six 

 pounds of potash; it is therefore important that manure or fertil- 

 izer rich in phosphoric acid and potash be supplied especially in 

 starting a new crop, even on fields that have been in alfalfa and 

 have produced good yields. Where a field is deficient in phos- 

 phorus and potash it is advisable to use a 2, 8, 8, or a 2, 10, 10, 

 fertilizer. 



After alfalfa has a good start and has become thoroughly 

 inoculated it will furnish its own supply of nitrogen, which 

 amounts to thirty-five pounds per ton on an average. 



A practical method of inoculating land, which has not been 

 growing alfalfa or sweet clover, is to take from 200 to 2,000 

 pounds of soil for each acre from an established alfalfa field, or 

 from a field growing sweet clover (melilotus) and scatter it in a 

 finely pulverized form over the field and harrow it in before the 

 sunlight kills the germs. 



Once a field has a well-established stand, it will last from 

 four to ten years. It is claimed that there are places in the 

 new world as well as in Europe where alfalfa has been growing 

 continuously for centuries without re-seeding. 



