DRY-FARMING 



rather than to seed production. This 

 opens up a new and practically limitless 

 field of work for the dry-farmer. Al- 

 falfa, for seed, should not be sown in 

 quite the same manner as for an ordinary 

 hay crop. To secure strong thrifty 

 plants, prevent crowding, and permit 

 cultivation the seed should be sown very 

 thinly in rows fi"om two and one half to 

 three and one half feet apart and the 

 young plants can be thinned out with a 

 hoe, as for sugar beets, or harrowed cross- 

 wise to cut out a portion of the crop. 

 When a small amount of seed, three to 

 six pounds per acre, is used, it may be 

 mixed with ashes to help to spread it 

 evenly. The yield of seed should be from 

 five to seven bushels per acre, but on good 

 soils as high as ten to twelve bushels may 

 be expected. Lucern weighs 60 lbs. to 

 the bushel. In practice the decision as to 

 whether the crop should be used for hay 

 250 



