HAIRY PERUVIAN ALFALFA 5 



uniformly over the entire border. The slope should be uniform be- 

 cause where the land has a great number of high and low places an 

 uneven growth of alfalfa is always obtained, since more water will be 

 secured by the plants in the lower places. Hairy Peruvian should be 

 planted in the fall of the year when other varities are planted usually 

 from September to November inclusive. Evaporation is less during 

 this period and throughout the winter, than it is in the spring and 

 summer months, so that little irrigation will be needed while the plants 

 are small, provided the land was well irrigated before planting. When 

 planted in the fall the roots have plenty of time to make a good growth 

 and get well down into the soil before the hot weather begins the 

 following summer. If hairy Peruvian is planted in the spring, al- 

 though its growth is very rapid, it will not be able to produce sufficient 

 root growth to hold its stand when the hot weather of the summer 

 comes on. 



Owing to the fact that hairy Peruvian is less branching and pro- 

 duces fewer stems to the plant than other varieties, even when the 

 plants are standing very thinly on the soil, it is necessary to plant more 

 seed per acre of this variety than with the other more branching types. 

 There are other reasons for this thick planting. It has been found 

 that when hairy Peruvian stands very densely on the soil the stems do 

 not grow so large nor do they become so woody before cutting time. 

 When grown in dense stands, only, the tops of the plants have any 

 great amount of hairiness. About 15 pounds of seed of common al- 

 falfa are sown to the acre. With hairy Peruvian at least 20 pounds 

 per acre should be sown as this will give a thick stand in the begin- 

 ning, and as the plants gradually thin out from year to year a good 

 stand will be insured even after the plants are several years old. It is 

 important to guard against poor stands with this variety because any 

 vacant space will not be taken up by the production of an extra number 

 of stems. Unoccupied space will be taken up by weeds which will 

 serve both to reduce the quality of hay and also the yield, especially of 

 the early spring cuttings. 



Testing alfalfa seeds: Since regions where hairy Peruvian alfalfa 

 is grown are almost entirely confined to the Southwest, alfalfa seed 

 locally marketed as hairy Peruvian is grown exclusively in the South- 

 west. For this reason any growers desiring to plant hairy Peruvian 

 alfalfa should never buy seed which has been imported from other 

 sections of the country, although it may be recommended as genuine 

 hairy Peruvian seed. Before buying alfalfa seed of any kind the 

 grower should be absolutely certain about three points ; viz., the variety, 

 the section of the country in which it was produced, and the quality 

 of the seed with regard to both germination and purity. As stated 

 elsewhere, it is impossible to distinguish hairy Peruvian seed from 

 seed of the common varieties ; therefore it is important to have the 

 dealer certify that the seed is genuine hairy Peruvian, and also that 

 it has been grown in the Southwest in regions to which hairy Peruvian 

 alfalfa is adapted, and to have dealings only with thoroughly reliable 

 and intelligent dealers and growers. The viability of seed, or its 



