46 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



SOIL PREPARATION 



With the only two negative points considered, the 

 more important conditions upon which success will 

 depend may be discussed. One chief essential is the 

 advance preparation. Many of the most successful 

 growers begin their preparations two or three years 

 before they sow the seed. There must be, by rights, the 

 most perfect physical condition of the soil. It should 

 have been plowed deep for at least two years, and in most 

 fields in the central and northern states a two- or three- 

 inch subsoiling along with a seven- or eight-inch plowing 

 will be very helpful. 



If corn is to precede a spring sowing, the ground 

 should have a liberal dressing of stable manure plowed 

 under for humus, to encourage earthworms and to intro- 

 duce the particular bacteria so essential to alfalfa's wel- 

 fare or at least furnish favorable conditions for bacteria, 

 and the harrow should follow the plow each day. The 

 soil's condition should be like that for a garden. Care 

 should be taken never to work with the ground when 

 too wet, as such working almost inevitably results in 

 clods and baked soil. The corn should be cultivated 

 often, and a liberal sowing of cowpeas just before the 

 last cultivation, which should be shallow, has been found 

 quite helpful. This crop will repress and take the place 

 of weeds, furnish a rich food for fattening pigs or lambs 

 after the corn is cut, add fertility to the soil, and also 

 introduce bacteria similar to the bacteria for the alfalfa. 

 The cowpea, being a legume, prepares the way for 

 alfalfa, its near relative. 



