98 FORAGE CROPS. 



land on which it is sown shall first be well cleaned, 

 either by summer fallowing it, or, what would be 

 better, by growing some crop on it that is given 

 clean cultivation. It is also important that the 

 ground shall be plowed deeply in preparing it for 

 the alfalfa, or, what would be better perhaps, in pre- 

 paring it for the cultivated crop that is to precede 

 the alfalfa. Subsoiling the land will usually be 

 found a good investment. But this should never be 

 done by running the ordinary plow twice in the same 

 furrow, except in soils that are as rich in available 

 plant food in the under furrow slice as in the upper 

 one. Otherwise the plants from the newly sown 

 alfalfa may not be able to get food enough to pro- 

 duce a vigorous growth when they are young. But 

 when alfalfa is sown along with other plants to 

 provide pasture, it is not so necessary to have 

 the land in such a perfect condition of prepara- 

 tion, owing to the limited period during which 

 it will be grown. 



Sowing. — The time for sowing alfalfa varies 

 much with the locality. It should not be sown in 

 the winter or in the summer. In the northern half 

 of the republic it is usually sown in the early spring, 

 as soon as the ground has become warm, and the 

 danger from severe frosts is past. In the southern 

 half thereof it is sown in the autumn and also 

 in the spring. When sown in the autumn, suffi- 

 cient time should be given to the young plants 

 to make enough growth to enable them to pass 

 the winter safely, with its frequent periods of trying 

 temperatures. 



The method of sowing is by no means uniform. 

 When alfalfa is sown as the sole crop, there is no 



