PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES 'Z'Jl 



and some skill is required to handle them properly. The 

 best preparation of the seedbed is that which allows of an 

 early plowing and the use of a harrow every time a crust 

 forms or weeds start before time to sow the seed. The 

 seedbed should be much like that for wheat — loose above 

 but firm below. The best time to sow in this state is be- 

 tween the middle of August and the middle of September, 

 the last week in August usually giving best results. The 

 amount of seed to sow is between 15 and 20 pounds, de- 

 pending upon the quality and the character of the soil. 

 It is best sown without a nurse crop. It must be clipped 

 frequently the first and sometimes the second season, es- 

 pecially on soils to which it is not well adapted. It should 

 usually be cut when the lower leaves begin to turn yellow. 



3IONTANA 



Alfred Rasicot, Deer Lodge county. — Alfalfa is the 

 most valuable crop that is raised in Idaho or Utah for 

 hay, growing on any kind of land but that which is low 

 and wet, yielding five to seven tons of hay to the acre, 

 and providing excellent feed for all kinds of farm ani- 

 mals. For about 20 years I have grown from 20 to 50 

 acres on second bottom and upland of heavy clay soil, 

 with gravel below and water at a depth varying from 16 

 to 100 feet on different localities. We irrigate from 

 streams, flooding the land and turning the water off as 

 soon as the land has been all covered, applying once for 

 the first cutting and twice for each succeeding cutting, 

 whenever the ground is dry. The first year on new land 

 requires fully one-third more water than is needed after- 

 ward. Before seeding, the ground should be mellow, 



