326 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



TABLE SHOWING PERCENTAGE OF LEAVES, STEMS AND FLOW- 

 ERS IN DRY ALFALFA HARVESTED AT DIFFERENT STAGES. 

 UTAH EXPERIMENT STATION 



389. Seed-bed. Young alfalfa plants are but poorly 

 adapted to compete with weeds, largely from the fact 

 that the early growth is devoted mainly to root extension. 

 On this account, a seed-bed as free as possible from weeds 

 is important, and it is also desirable that it be well settled 

 and moist. Such a seed-bed is best secured by fallowing 

 the land for six weeks or more before sowing. Or, where 

 the alfalfa is sown in the late summer or early fall, a clean 

 hoed crop, such as potatoes or tomatoes, may in some 

 states be harvested by the middle of August and leave the 

 land in excellent shape for alfalfa. 



On land that is likely to drift, special care is necessary 

 to secure a stand of alfalfa. In such cases, nurse-crops 

 are seldom practicable on account of insufficient moisture. 

 Drifting, however, may be prevented by scattering straw 

 or coarse manure over the field, or the alfalfa may be sown 

 in the old stubble of corn or sorghum. 



390. Inoculation. Alfalfa will rarely grow to maturity 



