SOIL AND SEEDING 55 



of it was washed in ridges Dy a very heavy rain imme- 

 diately after. We reseeded the vacant spaces in the 

 fall and later could see no difference between the fall 

 sowing and the spring sowing. We did the same thing 

 on one of our Iowa farms, sowing in the spring and 

 mowing three times. Another piece was sowed in 

 August. The August sowing was much better than the 

 spring sowing. It should be said, however, that the land 

 was richer and the difference was therefore not all due 

 to the time of sowing. So long as Kansas farmers con- 

 tinued to sow their alfalfa in the spring they had but par- 

 tial success, owing to the fact that Crab grass and other 

 grasses will come up in the early fall and smother out 

 the spring sowing. By using some other crop the first 

 part of the season, then putting the land in fine condition 

 in the month of August or even by September ist, an 

 alfalfa crop can be started which will have a strong 

 enough growth to smother out the weeds the next spring. 

 "We don't know that we would insist on this so 

 strongly for northern Iowa and Minnesota, but certainly 

 from the latitude of the Northwestern railroad in Iowa, 

 south, and corresponding latitude in other states, we 

 would abandon spring sowing and sow alfalfa on well 

 prepared ground in August. We would not, however, 

 plow the ground for this fall sowing, but put the soil in 

 first-class condition for a spring crop, then use a disk 

 and harrow for the fall preparation." 



SEEDING BY DRILL OR BROADCAST? 



Here too, there is a variety of opinions, all based on 

 experience. Those who object most to drills may have 



