ALFALFA 139 



to sow at once. This suggestion is specially appli- 

 cable to spring sowing. It should also be mentioned 

 that when the weeds infesting the soil are annual 

 or even biennial in character, the harm done to the 

 alfalfa by these will be much less than when the 

 land is infested with perennials at the time of sow- 

 ing. The former may be prevented from seeding 

 by clipping back frequently, while the latter remain 

 in the soil, increase from year to year, and injure 

 the plants by crowding. Where crab grass grows 

 abundantly, as in some parts of the South, unless the 

 alfalfa is sown and cultivated, spring sowing ought 

 to be avoided. But it is less objectionable to sow 

 alfalfa on land that is weedy when the adaptation 

 of the land for the crop is high than when it is low, 

 as the alfalfa in the former instance has so much 

 more power to fight its own battle. On good alfalfa 

 soils, therefore, it may be wiser in some instances to 

 sow alfalfa in weed-infested land than to defer sow- 

 ing for a whole year in order to clean the land. 



It is greatly important that the land shall be rich 

 in available plant food on which the seed is sown. 

 If naturally poor, it should be well fertilized before 

 sowing. When this cannot be done, it is better not 

 to sow. A vast preponderance of the land in the 

 Rocky Mountain region, when first broken, would 

 seem to possess abundantly all the essential foods 

 required by alfalfa ; hence, for a time, at least, it is 

 not necessary to enrich these before sowing the seed. 

 The sandy and hungry gravelly soils, which are con- 

 siderable in the South, in the Atlantic States, and in 

 some of the Central and Northern States, should be 



