116 PRODUCTIVE FARMING 



1. Lime the soil by applying about one ton of lime per 

 acre just before sowing the seed. 



2. Inoculate the new alfalfa field by spreading and har- 

 rowing in about five hundred pounds per acre of good soil 

 from an old alfalfa field when the sun is not shining. 



3. Have the soil as free from weed seed as possible by using 

 a bare fallow for a few weeks before seeding. 



4. Be sure that the alfalfa seed is perfectly pure and free 

 from weed seeds. 



5. Use plenty of seed, about thirty pounds per acre, sow- 

 ing it both length-wise and cross-wise of the field. 



6. Use good fertile soil and apply some high-grade fertilizer 

 about the time of sowing the seed. 



7. Always select a well-drained field for alfalfa. 



8. Cut the crop often about four times a year, beginning 

 with the spring following the August sowing. 



9. Cure the hay carefully to avoid shattering of the leaves 

 and to avoid its getting wet with rain. 



10. Do not use the field for pasture, particularly while 

 it is young. 



11. Harrow stubble after cutting. 



REVIEW. 



1. Give several arguments in favor of growing alfalfa. 



2. Tell of the use of alfalfa as a green dairy feed. 



3. In what ways does alfalfa improve the soil where it is grown? 



4. Give three benefits of a few weeks of bare fallowing before the 

 August seeding of alfalfa. 



5. Tell how a new alfalfa field may be inoculated with the bacteria 

 which the plants need. 



6. How much lime should be spread, and when? 



7. Give time, amount, and manner of seeding alfalfa. 



8. Which is better for alfalfa, upland or lowland? Why? 



9. Tell of two things which indicate when to cut alfalfa for hay. 



10. Tell one difficulty in curing alfalfa hay; and mention one advan- 

 tage over other kinds of hay, in its curing. 



11. Give briefly the eleven points covered by the eleven alfalfa 

 rules. 



References. U. S. Farmers' Bulletins: 339, Alfalfa; 382, Adulter- 

 ation of Forage-plant Seeds; 495, Alfalfa Seed Production; 636, Chalsis 

 Fly in Alfalfa Seed; 637, Grasshopper Problem and Alfalfa. 



