Grains and Forage Crops 121 



gated. It is noiv about 14 inches Iiish, but looks sickly, turns zuhitc at 

 the tips, and some dies dozen. There are several {ylaces here zi'itii the 

 Arabian alfalfa on them and zoith the same trouble, zvhile the ordinary 

 variety is looking fine by the side of it. 



Arabian alfalfa usually makes a good show at first and begins 

 to run out afterward. It does not seem to be so long-lived and sat- 

 isfactory as the common variety. With this prospect ahead of you, 

 according to present experience, it would seem to be desirable to 

 plow the crop in and seed again with the common variety, or with 

 the Turkestan, which is proving the most satisfactory of the recently 

 introduced varieties. 



Fall Sowing of Alfalfa. 



We have summer-fallozced land zvhich zve knozv zvill grozv good al- 

 falfa, and as zve have just had four inches of rainfall upon it, zue lucre 

 zvondering if zve could not plozv the tzventy acres and get a stand upon 

 it in time to stand the cold zccather this zinnter. Do you think this is 

 practicable? 



If four inches of rain on summer fallow connects well with the 

 lower moisture which a good summer fallow ought to conserve in 

 the soil, such sowing is rational; but if the summer fallowing was 

 not done well, that is, if it was rough plowing without enough har- 

 rowing, as is too often the case, the four inches of rain might not 

 be safe because of the dry ground beneath waiting to seize the 

 moisture and so dry the surface that sprouting alfalfa plants would 

 perish between dry soil below and dry wind above. Fall sowing 

 will give enough growth to resist frost killing in many places in the 

 valley if the moisture in the soil is enough to carry the plant as well 

 as start it, or if showers come frequently — otherwise it is dangerous, 

 not from frost but from drouth. 



Alfalfa Hay and Soil Fertility. 



We are feeding all our hay to dairy cozes, returning the manure to 

 the soil. At present prices of hay, my neighbors zvho sell theirs, seem 

 to be as zvell off, zvith considerable less zvork ; but hozv about the future? 

 Can this soil be cropped indefinitely and the crops sold, zvithout returning 

 anything to the land? 



It is a mistake to think that you can sell alfalfa hay indefinitely 

 without reducing the soil. It may gain in nitrogen by the wastes 

 of the plant, but it will lose in other constituents unless reinforced 

 by fertilization. No single act can make for the maintenance of the 

 soil as the growing and feedmg of crops and return of manure does. 



Dry-Land Alfalfa. 



I am in a country of strictly dry farming. I have a zuash or gulch 

 on my place and zvould like to knozv if I could, ivith success, plant it to 

 alfalfa zjuithout irrigation; soil is sandy loam, no evidences of springy 

 moisture at all. What kind should I try? 



