420 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



have it cut off. We plow alfalfa sod deep. Why? 

 Because the roots cut off easier down eight inches 

 or more. It is true that they will grow again, that 

 is, the upper part will grow, and your field in the 

 spring may look almost as though it had not been 

 plowed. Do not let that fact trouble you. When cul- 

 tivation begins the alfalfa will soon disappear. This 

 is assuming that the field is to go to corn or potatoes 

 or some other cultivated crop. If sown to oats it is 

 likely that the alfalfa would grow up in them pretty 

 thick and maybe trouble in the harvest. But oats 

 lodge in an alfalfa sod anyway, so they do not count. 



One finds that the soil itself is loose and easily 

 made friable after alfalfa has grown upon it, so he 

 can plow it deeper than ever he did before and find 

 soil all the way down. 



Setting the Plow. Now about setting the plow. 

 We use a rolling coulter and a pair of wheels on the 

 beam. One can buy trucks to fit a walking plow, or 

 he can have wheels adapted to the use by his black- 

 smith. It is probably cheaper to buy the trucks. 

 As we needed them on Woodland Farm before any 

 manufacturer had started making them we made our 

 own. The wheels hold the beam steady, exactly at 

 the right depth. It is an old device that has been in 

 use for centuries in Europe, but has not been imi- 

 tated in America simply because we have run after 

 cheapness too much, and because we have not done 

 much good plowing as yet. With these wheel trucks 

 a small boy can plow alfalfa sod almost as well as a 



