CROPS AND SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



Any land that is sufficiently well drained to 

 produce a good corn crop in a wet summer can 

 grow alfalfa if the seed-bed is rightly made. 

 The loose soils are more difficult to seed success- 

 fully than is the land having enough clay to give 

 itself body, although most experimenters select 

 their most porous soils. All farms having good 

 tilth can bring alfalfa into their crop-rotations. 



Free Use of Lime. The conditions requisite 

 to success in alfalfa-growing are not numerous, 

 but none can be neglected. Alfalfa should be 

 given a calcareous soil when possible, but an acid 

 soil can be made favorable to alfalfa by the free 

 use of lime. There must remain a liberal amount 

 after the soil deficiency has been met, and when the 

 use of lime is on a liberal scale, the pulverized lime- 

 stone makes the safest carrier. However, 50 

 bushels of stone-lime per acre can be used safely 

 on any land that is not distinctly sandy, and that 

 amount is adequate in most instances. 



Inoculation. The necessity of inoculation has 

 been discussed in Chapter IV. Eastern land would 

 become inoculated for alfalfa if farmers would 

 adopt the practice of mixing a little alfalfa with 

 red clover whenever making seedings. Some 

 alfalfa plants usually make growth, securing the 



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