332 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



choke out the younger shoots. We have found that 

 wherever implements may be used for covering the 

 seed, the work should be followed by a plank drag to 

 smooth and compadl the surface. Great care should 

 be exercised, in the selection of seed, to see that the 

 grains are plump and healthy, and that it is scrupu- 

 lously clean. If there are many shrunken seeds rejedl 

 the whole lot, for if they sprout at all they will pro- 

 duce only puny, worthless plants. By all means 

 avoid seed that may contain the dodder seed, as this 

 enemy is very fatal to alfalfa. 



Grain with Alfalfa. — Usually the best grain crop 

 to sow with alfalfa is the second crop of barley — that is, 

 on good fertile soil that has brought a bumper crop of 

 barley and is followed by barley again. Under ordi- 

 nary conditions the second crop will not be of half the 

 weight in straw and grain as the first crop, and this 

 permits the young alfalfa plants to get a better supply 

 of sun, air, and moisture. In most cases a grain- 

 alfalfa field is irrigated twice, first when the grain is 

 six or eight inches high and fairly well covering the 

 ground, then just before it begins to head out, and if 

 the grain can be cut and hauled off the meadow by 

 August 25th it will be excellent for the alfalfa to 

 give it a third light watering. Usually it is not 

 advisable to irrigate heavily or after the first of Sep- 

 tember. It will then have ample time to dry out before 

 heavy freezing of the soil, and the young plants will not 

 winter-kill by root freezing or heaving, as will happen 

 in the case of late irrigation. The eastern farmer who 

 literally looks to the heavens for moisture is given to 

 sowing grain and grass seed with a drill. This does 



