ALFALFA 329 



spring sowing, very little alfalfa can be . harvested the 

 same season. 



393. Method of seeding. Alfalfa seeds germinate satis- 

 factorily from all depths up to two inches under satis- 

 factory conditions of moisture. At a greater depth all 

 of the seedlings will not reach the surface. In field prac- 

 tice, the aim is to sow the seed from one-half to one inch 

 deep in ordinary soils, but under droughty conditions or 

 in sandy soils one and one-half inches is safer. 



The seed is variously sown by hand or by using dif- 

 ferent types of seeders. A grain drill is the most economical 

 implement to use where the planting is extensive. In 

 this case the amount of seed sown may be regulated by 

 the use of leather thongs to reduce the feed, or by mixing 

 the seed with bran or other inert substance. 



394. Nurse-crops. The use of a nurse-crop for alfalfa 

 is to be recommended only in regions or on soils where but 

 little difficulty is experienced in securing a stand. It is 

 doubtful whether a nurse-crop is ever beneficial to the 

 alfalfa, but on the irrigated lands of the West, alfalfa may 

 be sown with a nurse-crop, and a good stand usually 

 secured. Spring-sown barley is used most often, as the 

 nurse ; oats less frequently. Barley draws less heavily 

 on the soil moisture. 



In the humid parts of the United States, occasional 

 examples are found where success has been obtained by 

 sowing alfalfa with spring oats or barley. This, how- 

 ever, involves sowing the alfalfa seed early in spring, an 

 unfavorable time on account of weeds, besides increasing 

 the chance of failure from drought. Seeding in fall with 

 winter wheat, oats or rye postpones the sowing beyond 

 the most favorable time to insure ample growth of the 

 alfalfa before winter. In view of the care usually neces- 



