164 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN L54. 



written reports only were received. The results may be classi- 

 fied as follows: successful experiments, 13; partially successful, 

 9; failures, 7. 



Two other reports direct from the farmers have since been 

 received: the first of these, made during the winter of 1912-13; 

 the second, during the winter of 1913-14. On each occasion 

 there was a diminished number of farmers responding, in- 

 dicating, no doubt, failure on the part of most of those who 

 did not report. The number of growers reporting in the winter 

 of 1912-13 was 24. Of these, 6 were entirely successful, 8 

 partially successful and 10 had experienced failure. 



At the time of the last report, in the winter of 1913-14, 

 only 9 growers responded. Of these, 5 were successful, 1 par- 

 tially successful and 3 had experienced failure. 



The results obtained might be considered discouraging but 

 for the fact that the causes of failure in most cases would 

 seem to be avoidable. These causes, in the order of their 

 importance, may be classified as follows: — 



1. Winterkilling. — This appears to have been due in most 

 cases to poor drainage or to too flat a surface, permitting 

 standing water and ice. In some cases winterkilling seemed to 

 be a consequence either of the fact that the seed was sown 

 too late, or that the weather immediately following sowing 

 was so dry that the crop did not get a good start. As a 

 consequence of either of these conditions the first winter 

 found the crop with insufficient growth for protection. 



In other cases winterkilling was a consequence, also, of 

 insufficient winter protection, but this was due either to the 

 fact that the alfalfa was pastured too late in the fall or that 

 the last cutting was made too late. 



2. Weeds and Grasses have croivded the Alfalfa out. — This 

 has occurred mainly on fields which either did not get a good 

 start in the beginning, owing to imperfect germination of the 

 seed, or on fields which were partially winterkilled, thus giving 

 weeds and grasses opportunity to come in. 



In some cases, however, the competition both of weeds and 

 grasses with the crop has been accentuated by the use of 

 manure as a top-dressing. 



Among all the different weeds and grasses mentioned as 



