1911.] rUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 27 



naturallv tibumlautly stocked with pliosphoric acid, this cle- 

 iiieiit must be furnished. 



A large amount of nitrogen in the soil cannot be regarded 

 as essential; indeed, from some points of view it is undesirable; 

 but, on the other hand, unless there is a fair amount of nitro- 

 gen in available forms in the soil the crop will fail to make a 

 good start. When well established under the right conditions 

 it can, like other legumes, draw the needed nitrogen from the 

 air. 



The application of manure to soils which are to be used for 

 alfalfa in preparing for the crop will, it is believed, in general 

 be found inadvisable. Manure, it is true, helps to give the 

 soil the desired texture, and increases the proportion of humus 

 which may be beneficial, but it usually carries many weed 

 seeds, and increases the difficulty of getting a good catch of 

 alfalfa. A free use of manure will, moreover, be likely to in- 

 crease the competition of the grasses with the alfalfa, enabling 

 these in a measure gradually to crowd the latter out. Manure 

 used rather liberally for crops which immediately precede 

 alfalfa, may, on the other hand, prove quite beneficial, especially 

 on the lighter and poorer soils. 



Seeditstg to Alfalfa. 



Season for Sowing. — Success with alfalfa has been obtained 

 both by early spring and summer sowing. In the experiments 

 which the writer has carried out the latter has given the best 

 results. If alfalfa is spring sown, it is commonly necessary 

 to sow a nurse crop with it. If this is not done it must, in 

 almost all soils, suffer greatly from the competition of annual 

 Aveeds which tend to come in so freely in all fertile soils during 

 the spring months. In the one case, then, it must share the 

 soil with a nurse crop, in the other wdth weeds, and in either 

 case the competition for plant food and moisture is somewhat 

 unfavorable. Further, wdiether weeds grow up with the crop 

 or whether a nurse crop is sown with it, the alfalfa, when 

 these are removed, is exposed to the intense heat of the sun 

 in midsummer, and if at this time there is a deficiency of rain- 

 fall, it almost invariably suffers a serious check. 



