PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES 233 



borne a crop of melilotus. Artificial inoculation of al- 

 falfa is probably advisable even for prairie soils when it 

 is uncertain whether either the melilotus or alfalfa germs 

 are present in great numbers. In regions in Alabama 

 where neither alfalfa, melilotus, nor Bur clover is exten- 

 sively grown, inoculation of alfalfa is advisable. For 

 tliis purpose one may use soil from old fields of either of 

 these plants or inoculating material prepared in the lab- 

 oratory. 



ARIZONA 



John Blake, Graham county. — Alfalfa is the king of 

 forage plants here. It will stand considerable dry weather 

 and live, but it will not yield profitably unless irrigated, 

 or on naturally damp ground. It does not do well here 

 on clay soil, and if clay subsoil is near the surface it is 

 likely to dry out, unless watered. I have grown alfalfa 

 for eight years on 175 acres, first and second bottom, and 

 upland, with sandy and loam soils, with small patches of 

 clay and various subsoils ; the alluvial bottoms are usually 

 loam of different depths, underlaid with sand and gravel; 

 the next bottom more clayey, with quicksand about 13 

 feet deep and gravel about 30 feet below the surface. On 

 first bottoms, well water is reached at a depth of 3 to 8 

 feet, the soil being dry on the surface only ; on the upland, 

 the soil is dry for 20 to 30 feet, or until water is reached. 

 Land intended for alfalfa had best be cultivated in other 

 crops for two or three years, thus insuring the killing off 

 of native brush and grass, and their roots ; then it must 

 be laid off in "lands" of various widths, according to 

 the slope, each land being leveled uniformly and bordered 

 to hold water. Seed may be sown in August, September, 



