ALL ABOUT ALFALFA. ^"i 



the seed is not planted too deep, thus, preventing free 

 germination. Hence shallow seeding with the drill is 

 advised. 



The amount of seed to be sown to an acre will be 

 governed largely by circumstances. Primarily the 

 range is from twelve to thirty pounds to the acre. More 

 is required in broadcasting than in drilling, and for fine 

 hay the stand should be much thicker than when only a 

 seed crop is desired. The amount of grain put in when 

 sown with alfalfa is but a trifle less than the usual de- 

 mand. When seed alone is the desideratum, the drill 

 should be employed and the tubes set from fifteen to 

 nineteen inches apart, and only twelve to fifteen pounds 

 of seed should be placed on an acre. A good " catch" 

 is more desirable usually than the actual number of 

 pounds to the acre, but a good rule for a common crop 

 would be from fifteen to twenty pounds, and one using 

 this quantity will not go astray in his expectations. It 

 is very difficult to re-seed thin patches, as the older 

 growth is so rank that it tends to choke out the younger 

 shoots. We have found that wherever implements may 

 be used for covering the seed, the work should be fol- 

 lowed by a plank drag to smooth and compact the sur- 

 face. Great care should be exercised, in the selection of 

 seed, to see that the grains are plump and healthy, and 

 that it is scrupulously clean. If there are many 

 shrunken seeds reject the whole lot, for if they sprout 

 at all they will produce only puny, worthless plants. 

 By all means avoid seed that may contain the dodder 

 seed, as this enemy is very fatal to alfalfa. 



Irrigating. The critical time with alfalfa is the 

 first six weeks of its growth. Flooding during this 

 period is quite certain to give the plants a backset from 

 which they seldom fully recover before the second, and 

 sometimes not before the third year, and it is not often 

 in the arid States that rain falls with sufficient frequency 



