GRASS AND HAY 37 



before the alfalfa is seeded and the successive crops of germinating 

 weeds destroyed by frequent harrowing. Weeds are especially harm- 

 ful to spring-seeded alfalfa, and for this reason spring seeding should, 

 be avoided and late summer or early autumn seeding practiced in 

 all sections where this can be done. 



Crops Which May Precede Alfalfa. The time of year that any 

 given crop may be harvested and the land prepared for alfalfa is an 

 important factor in choosing the crop to precede alfalfa, which 

 usually requires seeding at a certain definite time in any given lo- 

 cality. In sections where late summer seeding of alfalfa is possible 

 the early-maturing truck crops, such as early potatoes, enable one 

 crop to be secured that season and still allow time for the prepara- 

 tion of the land for alfalfa. In addition to this the clean culture 

 given the truck crop will tend to rid the field of weeds and will make 

 plowing unnecessary. The residual effect of the heavy fertilizer ap- 

 plications which must be made for the truck crop will usually suf- 

 fice for the alfalfa. Except in the extreme North small-g;rain stub- 

 ble can usually be worked up in time for late summer seeding. This 

 is especially true of oats. 



Clean-culture crops, such as corn in the North and cotton or to- 

 bacco in the South, are useful in ridding the land of weeds. As in 

 the case of truck crops, a heavy application of manure may be given 

 these crops and the culture given them will destroy any weeds that 

 may have been introduced with the manure. It is usually impossi- 

 ble in the sections indicated to get such a crop as corn off the land in 

 time for the late summer seeding of alfalfa. In such cases a green- 

 manure crop, such as hairy vetch or common clover, may be seeded 

 in the fall, cut for hay the following spring, and the Btuoble plowed 

 in preparation for alfalfa. 



Preparing the Seed Bed. The tender nature of the young al- 

 falfa plants requires that the soil be in excellent tilth at planting 

 time. The seed bed should be fine on top but thoroughly settled. 

 The young taproot of the alfalfa plant strikes down immediately 

 and is apt to be seriously injured if it encounters a layer of loose dry 

 soil at me bottom of the old furrow. As a general rule about six 

 weeks are required for plowed land to settle enough for alfalfa seed- 

 ing. It is sufficient, however, with many soils that they be disked 

 instead of plowed. Less time is required for the disked land to set- 

 tle and the operation is much less expensive than plowing. 



It is important that the preparation be uniformly good, as the 

 poorly prepared spots are apt to fail. These bare places form the 

 centers from which weeds may spread and ultimately destroy the 

 whole stand. Summer fallowing is often practiced in the semi-arid 

 regions to conserve sufficient moisture for the germination of the 

 seed at planting time. This method is also effective in any section 

 for ridding the ground of weeds. 



Preparation of Sandy Ground. It is often difficult to estab- 

 lish alfalfa on soils that are so sandy that they drift when bare. The 

 young unprotected alfalfa plants are very apt to be cut off by the 

 drifting sand unless special precautions are takf/n. This danger may 



