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The first two months of the life of the alfalfa plant is the 

 most critical period, and at this time it is very susceptible 

 to changes in temperature and excess of water. Alfalfa 

 will not thrive with wet feet. The land on which it is 

 proposed to grow alfalfa should have been planted with a 

 hoed crop for several years, so that all weeds could be 

 subdued. The land should be thoroughly plowed and 

 harrowed. In the preparation of the land for alfalfa at 

 Cherry Hill Farm the land is first plowed to a depth of 

 eight or ten inches, a heavy coating of manure applied 

 and thoroughly harrowed in with a double action cutaway 

 harrow. Thirty bushels of lime to the acre are applied, 

 spread evenly, and thoroughly worked into the soil with 

 the same harrow. Five hundred pounds of fertilizer is 

 then spread, and the land harrowed as many times as is 

 necessary to make a tine seed bed. I have harrowed a 

 field as many as fifteen times, and have been well repaid 

 for doing so. After the seed bed is prepared, we sow 

 thirty pounds of alfalfa seed to the acre. In the past we 

 have used a nurse crop with the alfalfa ; in the future we 

 shall use none. The first cost of preparation of the soil 

 may seem large, but it must be considered that you expect 

 to take three crops a year for three and as many more 

 years as you can. The first expense is therefore spread 

 over several years. Plowing deep is essential to success, 

 as shallow plowing often causes failures. If the roots 

 cannot penetrate a foot the first year, your crop being a 

 surface one, is liable to be killed out the first winter, or by 

 severe drought in summer. It would be a benefit to sub- 

 soil if your alfalfa goes down fifteen inches the first year. 

 I think there is no doubt of success. Alfalfa has been 

 known to thrive on land with hardpan sub-soil, but it will 

 do better on land with a loose sub-soil. 



The best time to sow the seed is in spring, as soon as the 



