FORAGE AND SOILING CROPS 



105 



Li7ne and fertilizers. — To thrive well alfalfa requires both a 

 plentiful supx)ly of lime and of organic matter in the soil. A 

 liberal apjDlication of good manure is nearly always beneficial, 

 especially if applied to the seedbed. On older soils three hun- 

 dred to four hundred pounds of acid phosphate in addition will 

 usually give good results. When sown on any soil for the first 

 time, inoculation should be practiced. 



Varieties. — In the North, where winters are severe, the more 

 hardy varieties will often do best. In the great central region, 

 the common variety should be grown, using seed from the north- 

 west, from Kansas northward. In the far South, it is safe to 

 use the southern varieties of alfalfa. 



Seeding. — The greatest jiercentages of successful stands have 

 been obtained by sowing, without a nurse crop, in early August, 

 or even earlier in the far North, after a good seed bed had been 

 prepared early in the season. Early spring sowing is often 

 practiced but the percentage of failures is greater, both when 

 sown with or without a nurse crop. 



Fig. 2S. — Sections of the United States where alfalfa is grown. 



Alfalfa should generally be cut for hay when the young shoots 

 at the base of the plants first appear. If cutting is delayed till 

 these young shoots become long enough to be cut by the luower, 

 the next crop may be damaged. The shoots generally appear at 

 the same time as the first blossoms, but they may appear consid- 

 erably later. Blossoms alone are therefor not a safe guide. 



Soy beans. — The soy bean is an annual legume mth a stiff 



