ALFALFA 45 



cultivating alfalfa after early season cuttings is recom- 

 mended by some successful growers. The knives should not 

 be set too slanting to endanger cutting oft 2 the crowns of the 

 plants. Sometimes a spring tooth harrow is used. A corru- 

 gated roller following the cultivating will help loosen the 

 soil and make an effective soil mulch. 



Alfalfa hay is cured and harvested in about the same man- 

 ner as red clover. It must not be allowed to lie in the swath 

 to cure until the leaves, the most valuable part of the hay, 

 are likely to be broken off and lost in the handling. 



The partly cured hay is put in small haycocks and cov- 

 ered with haycaps for protection against the rain. These 

 caps are made of canvas about forty inches square and held 

 in place by balls of cement, each carrying a wire hook. It 

 should remain in these haycocks until well cured; usually 

 from two to four days are necessary. 



SUMMARY OF DIRECTIONS FOR GROWING ALFALFA 



1. Select a deep, well drained, fertile soil, as free as pos- 

 sible from weeds. 



2. Before attempting to grow alfalfa it is well to grow 

 a tilled crop a year or two previous to seeding the alfalfa. 



3. Prepare the seed-bed thoroughly ; an ideal onion tilth 

 is best. 



4. Inoculate the land with from 100 to 300 pounds per 

 acre of infected soil. If care is taken to prevent the alfalfa 

 seed from gluing together, the glue method of inoculation 

 may be used. Moisten the seed with a 10 per cent solution of 

 glue (six ounces of furniture glue to one gallon of water) and 

 immediately sift over them sufficient dry, pulverized, infected 



