SEEDING AND CUTTING. 205 



Spring Ploicing and Summer Sowing. Some 

 have practiced spring plowing of the land and after- 

 ward harrowing it after every rain, after every 

 appearance of weed growth, until all the weed seeds 

 are killed, then sowing the alfalfa alone in July. 

 Usually this results in a good stand. The cost is 

 considerable. No return from the land is had at 

 all for one year and the repeated harrowings cost 

 quite a little. It is one of the surest ways, perhaps, 

 of getting alfalfa started in land very foul with 

 grass and weeds. I do not advise this plan except 

 in cases where it is extremely difficult to get a stand. 

 By harrowing well after each rain nearly all of 

 the moisture is conserved. Thus it is a plan well 

 adapted to use in semi-arid regions where it is not 

 easy to establish alfalfa because of lack of moisture 

 in the soil. In such situations the land should be 

 plowed in the fall and disked after each rain or 

 snow fall and all care possible taken to conserve the 

 moisture that falls. After once the land is moist 

 down to a depth of a foot or more and a thoroughly 

 good seedbed is secured then the alfalfa may be 

 sown, though in such situations it is usually well to 

 defer sowing till August. The state of tilth of 

 soil and the amount of available moisture are more 

 important determining factors, however, than the 

 time of year in dry regions, where alfalfa does not 

 heave out by frost in any event. 



I can not from my own experience recommend 

 this plan of seeding for any states in the cornbelt 

 region, since it is an unnecessary expense and no 



