328 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



long as it has a porous substratum for proper drain- 

 age, and so that there is no accumulation of surface 

 water to injure the crown and root of the plant. Corn 

 land is just the thing for alfalfa — any soil that is of a 

 friable charadler answers every need of the plant. 

 And carefully seeded, protecfted, and cared for in a 

 common-sense way, failure will scarcely result, and 

 winter-killing need not be feared, as the plant is much 

 more hardy than red clover. Bench land is preferable 

 to bottom land, and sandy loam is more desirable than 

 clay, though some clay soils answer well for alfalfa, 

 but the plants are longer in becoming established. 

 Alfalfa should not be sown on sod for the reason that 

 so valuable and permanent a crop should never be laid 

 on a surface rough and difficult of irrigation. Where 

 there is a loamy soil * ' old land ' ' is best upon which 

 to sow alfalfa, and should be plowed deep, and if not 

 to be irrigated, should be subsoiled. With sandy land 

 over very porous subsoil, where irrigation is not prac- 

 ticed, good success often results from seeding on sod. 

 On land of this nature thorough surface preparation 

 without subsoiling will probably give the most satis- 

 factory results. 



Preparing the Land. — In starting alfalfa the 

 first point claiming consideration is the seledlion and 

 preparation of the soil. The plowing should, if pos- 

 sible, be done in the fall, and in the arid regions the 

 use of the subsoil plow is almost an imperative neces- 

 sity. In the spring, before seeding, the land should 

 be carefully graded to a surface so even as to obviate 

 the necessity for the irrigator ever to step into the 

 growing crop to force the water with a shovel. Who- 



