SOWING ALFALFA 217 



barley. This is not the heaviest- yielding barley, 

 but it is the best nurse-crop yet found for alfalfa, 

 because it usually does not lodge, does not stool 

 very much, nor shade the land too much, and it 

 comes off early in the season. The purpose of 

 using a nurse -crop is to discourage the growth 

 of fox -tail and other annual grasses until the 

 alfalfa can get a start. It is very unsafe to sow 

 alfalfa alone early in spring, because of the dan- 

 ger of its being choked with grasses. One can 

 get a much more satisfactory stand with the 

 barley than when sown alone. A bushel to the 

 acre will be enough barley, although more may 

 be used. It is best to sow with a drill, sowing 

 the alfalfa seed at the rate of about fifteen to 

 twenty pounds per acre in front of the drill. The 

 land should have been first deeply plowed, and 

 early enough in the season, if possible, to let it 

 settle together, then worked to a good seed-bed 

 just before sowing. The time of sowing should 

 be as early as the danger of hard freezing is 

 past, say the middle of April for the 40th par- 

 allel, earlier to the south, and later to the north. 

 Oats as a nurse-crop are not nearly so safe as 

 barley, yet they may be used. No more than a 

 bushel of seed should be sown to the acre. The 

 oats must be cut for hay just when coming in 

 bloom. If cutting is postponed until grain is 

 formed, half or more of the alfalfa will be killed. 



