ALL ABOUT ALFALFA. 225 



cause to repent his foil} 7 . The labor and cost of grading 

 land at the outset are infinitesimal compared with the 

 ai^ivgati 1 labor and loss incurred in irrigating rough, 

 iiiK'ven land t \virc or thrice each season for an indefinite 

 term of years. In leveling the land for the economical 

 distribution of water by the flooding system, the writer 

 has preferred to use the Shuart land grader, and has 

 completely leveled ten acres a day with this indispensable 

 machine. 



After grading, and immediately before sowing the 

 seed, the land should be flooded. A good irrigation at 

 this stage serves a three-fold purpose. First, it reveals 

 the high spots, if any remain, and these should at once 

 be worked down and irrigated. As soon thereafter as 

 the ground will bear working, the seed should be sown. 

 Secondly, irrigation before seeding insures the prompt 

 and complete germination of the seed. This is a point 

 of vital importance, for without a dense and uniform 

 stand of plants it is not possible to make a high quality 

 of alfalfa hay. If the stand is thin on the ground the 

 stalks will be coarse, woody and indigestible, and in 

 curing, the leaves will dry and fall off before the stems 

 are sufficiently cured. But if the stand is thick the 

 stems will be fine and the foliage will be so abundant 

 that the curing process can be effected evenly and with- 

 out perceptible loss of leaves. 



Seeding. Of the different modes of seeding with 

 alfalfa, the most common method, when the conditions 

 are favorable, is to scatter the seed over a surface which 

 has been finely pulverized and not crusted, the sowing 

 being done very early in the spring. The crumbling of 

 the soil after a night's freezing partly or wholly covers 

 the seed, none of which is buried so deep as to prevent 

 germination. The seed is protected with an oily cover- 

 ing or sac, and is not injured by freezing. With spring 

 rains enough to keep the surface moist, nearly all will 

 15 



