452 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



be kept up at much less expense. Less frequent cultivation will 

 be necessary, and when needed may be given with an alfalfa ren- 

 ovator or a disk, straight-toothed, or slant-toothed harrow. Under 

 these methods, as in row cultivation, the stand must be very thin 

 if the best results are to be obtained. 



Selection of Soil. In the semi-arid sections the ordinary arable 

 land, such as is used for the common farm crops, will prove well 

 adapted te this work so far as fertility is concerned. Inasmuch 

 as the chief purpose of cultivation is moisture conservation, soils 

 of large moisture-holding capacity should be used when there is 

 opportunity for choice. Care should be taken to avoid fields too 

 alkaline for ordinary crops. 



Location of Fields. In many parts of the semi-arid sections 

 alfalfa fields are located in swales or draws or on creek bottoms 

 where the moisture conditions are the best that are available. 

 Where the rainfall is very light it will be safest to utilize such 

 places for growing alfalfa in rows for seed. Where the precipita- 

 tion is greater or the run-off which the field secures from the 

 surrounding area is sufficient, alfalfa fields, for either seed or 

 hay, may be sown thinly either broadcast or with the drill, thus 

 obviating a large part of the expense of cultivation. It may be 

 safely assumed that alfalfa in cultivated rows will succeed under 

 somewhat drier conditions than fields grown by ordinary methods. 

 In those parts of the semi-arid sections where the rainfall is rela- 

 tively heavy it is probable that even the highest and driest por- 

 tions of the farm may be successfully utilized by the row method. 



Preparation of the Seed Bed. The preparation of the ground 

 should be such as to rid it as far as possible of weeds and at the 

 same time to provide a seed bed which has become well firmed 

 by settling or rolling, or both. In the drier portions of the semi- 

 arid regions summer-fallowing the preceding season may be neces- 

 sary to provide the soil with the moisture required to insure 

 prompt germination of the seed. This implies keeping the field 

 in the cleanest possible culture during the previous summer. 

 Weeds must be controlled and proper tillage must be given after 

 each rain. The soil mulch thus maintained will check evapora- 

 tion and in the following year place at the disposal of the young 

 plants the greater part of two years' rainfall. 



In the North, where spring planting is advisable, surface tillage 

 must be continued until seeding time. In many cases it will not 

 be necessary to summer-fallow if the field is devoted to a culti- 

 vated crop, such as corn, during the preceding year. 



In the Great Plains country, when the ground is plowed, im- 

 mediate harrowing and rolling should follow the plowing. In 



