DISKING AND HARROWING 89 



the deep, sturdy rooting alfalfa. The cutting and 

 splitting of the crowns invigorates the growth and 

 thickens the stand. If crab-grass and foxtail, or any 

 other grasses, tend to spring up after the cuttings, as 

 they will, especially during a dry time, disking and 

 harrowing after cutting will keep the noxious growths 

 back, and enable the alfalfa to make a quicker and 

 more vigorous growth helpful to an increase in yield 

 and in the number of cuttings. ' ' 



Prof. H. M. Cottrell, of the agricultural experiment 

 station, Manhattan, Kan., writes: "Our first experi- 

 ence in disking alfalfa was in 1898. A field had been 

 seeded to alfalfa in the dry year of 1894 and a poor 

 stand resulted. In 1897 this alfalfa was heavily pas- 

 tured by hogs. Tt 2 hogs were taken off early in the 

 fall and a heavy growth of crab-grass came up. The 

 crab-grass was so thick and the stand of alfalfa so thin 

 that it was not worth keeping. 



" lyate in March, 1898, this field was harrowed with 

 a disk-harrow, the disks sharp and set at as great an 

 angle as possible. It was immediately cross-disked 

 with the disks set the same way. The ground was 

 thoroughly pulverized and the alfalfa apparently 

 destroj'ed. It soon started, branched out thickly, and 

 we made three good cuttings firom the field that summer. 



"In 1900 we went. a step further in disking alfalfa. 

 The season was very dry at Manhattan, the rainfall in 

 June being 1. 19 inches, in July 4.51 inches, and in 

 August 2.84 inches. Two fields of alfalfa, two years 

 old, were disked. 



" One field was disked March 28th, the first cutting 

 for hay made May 31st, disked June 6th, the second 

 cutting for hay made June 25th, disked June 27th, tht 



