84 FOR BETTER CROPS 



that are down there. This may not be so well understood by 

 readers who, living in the arid west, find all of their land 

 ready to take alfalfa, but in the older clays of the rainy east, 

 little land is now naturally in condition to take the seed until 

 it has been first enriched. 



How to Start an Alfalfa Field — ISTaturally the ways of 

 sowing alfalfa vary with the location and climates. In the arid 

 West it is a simple matter. The land is usually plowed in win- 

 ter or early spring, w^orked down to a good seedbed and the 

 seed sown alone in middle spring time. It is irrigated occasion- 

 ally according to the nature of the soil, and crops are often taken 

 from it the same year, though it is not at its best until the 

 third year, but it will yield very heavy crops the second year. 

 In some countries it is a practice to sow a light seeding of oats 

 with the alfalfa, in other regions this will not do since the oats 

 will lodge or bed down and smother the slender alfalfa plants. 

 In general the better practice in the arid region is to sow the 

 alfalfa alone. 



The amount of seed to the acre varies between four and 

 thirty pounds. The smaller amount of seed is sometimes sown 

 when seed is desired from it, as it seeds better not to be thick. 

 There are 14,448,000 seeds in a bushel of alfalfa seed. Therefore 

 to sow half a bushel to the acre would put 166 seeds to the 

 square foot. To sow fifteen pounds would put on eighty-three 

 seeds. Seeing that this is true, it is evident that it is more 

 essential to have good seed and good distribution of the seed 

 than to use a great amount of seed. About twelve to sixteen 

 plants to the square foot are all that will ever stand, and on 

 rich, deep soils they will not long endure even that much 

 crowding. 



Clipping the Young Alfalfa — Weeds often come up to crowd 

 the young alfalfa. To destroy these weeds clip the field with 

 the mower, setting it to run as close to the ground as possible. 

 There may come a yellowish rust that attacks the leaves. To 

 destroy this clip close with the mower. Therefore when pre- 

 paring land for alfalfa, see to it that the field is left as smooth 

 as practicable, so that the mower may run over it in security. 

 This trouble of the leaf rust will not be so much in evidence in 

 western lands as in the lands east of the Mississippi river. 



Pasturing on Young Alfalfa Seedings — It is not well to 

 allow any animals to graze upon a young alfalfa meadow. They 

 will likely do far more damage than the good they will get will 

 pay for. When it is time for the alfalfa to be clipped, take the 

 mower to it, and if there is enough stuff on the ground to be 

 worth while, rake it up and take it away. After the first season, 

 pasturing may be resorted to if it is thought desirable, and lit- 

 tle bad result will be seen if the field is not over stocked. 



