516 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



"First, that in order wholly to overcome winterkilling, 

 caused either by extreme cold or heaving by ice gathering 

 around the crowns, and also to overcome sun scalding dur- 

 ing extreme summer heat after the first crop is taken off, 

 the farmer must plant his seed in open trenches which are 

 from 4" to 6" deep and from 14" to 18" apart. Care, how- 

 ever, must be taken that the trenches are not run down steep 

 grades, which would cause the water to run in the trenches. 

 The covering of the seed must be left to the rains and the 

 wind. After the plants are about 6" above the surface of 

 the ground, then the final leveling process must be begun by 

 means of a common harrow by frequent harrowing. This 

 harrowing should be continued until the field is leveled, and 

 the crowns well buried to a depth of at least 4". 



"Second, that by the buried crown method, the farmer 

 can easily gain an extra crop, for the reason that the buried 

 crown will throw out, late in the fall, a large number of 

 sprouts, which will remain below the surface of the ground 

 and thus keep alive, waiting for spring that they may start 

 growing again at the first call of growing weather; thus often 

 making a growth of from 6" to 8" before the exposed crown 

 recovers from the rigors of the past winter. 



"Third, that the covered crown method is the only way 

 by which an alfalfa field can be made permanent or ever- 

 lasting; thus is explained and established, the truth em- 

 bodied in the German name for alfalfa, which is Ewiger Klee, 

 or Eternal Clover. By the buried crown method, that part 

 of the top growth which is covered with soil, never dies. 

 Frost does not affect it. It lives through the winter, and 

 not only lives, but develops independent small roots; if any 

 injury befalls the main tap-root or the crown, these little 

 feeder roots become independent tap-roots, and a new crown 

 is developed just above the old crown; so it often happens 

 that where one crown is destroyed by a mole or other rodent, 

 as many as 20 new crowns take the place of the one dead one. 



"Fourth, that by the buried crown method alone, soil cul- 

 tivation and moisture conservation can be practiced continu- 

 ously without material injury to the crowns. A field, under 

 this method, can be disked or harrowed with a spring-tooth 

 harrow, as often as a crop is taken off; or, if only a top mulch 

 is desired to retain moisture, a common harrow can be run 



