486 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



be too low to give sufficient fall growth to withstand 

 winter's freezings. I verily believe that every- 

 where north of the Ohio River spring seeding is 

 best, provided one can keep his land quite free from 

 weeds by clean cultivation of his corn the preceding 

 year. I mean absolutely clean cultivation. Here 

 the use of the Spalding deep plows helps, as many 

 weed seeds are too deeply buried to sprout again. 



Fall Seeding a Mistake. — I do not like the term 

 fall seeding, because it misleads people as to the na- 

 ture of alfalfa. It is not at all like a grass that can 

 live through winter just so it gets a toehold in the 

 earth. Alfalfa must have firm rooting so that it will 

 not be pulled up by frost. It is true that it is hardy 

 against cold, but if the winter's freezings lift the 

 roots out it usually perishes. Thus in the cornbelt 

 September and October seedings usually fail. Sep- 

 tember seeding will do in Tennessee and southward, 

 and in the gulf states one can sow as late as Nov. 1 

 and often get a good stand, although even there 

 October seeding is better. 



Seeding in the Latitude of Kentucky. — In Ken- 

 tucky summer grasses greatly trouble spring-sown 

 alfalfa and it is usually most successfully sown in 

 August or early September. The following points 

 should be studied in Kentucky : Is the land really well 

 drained? Discriminate between a sloping surface, 

 giving surface drainage and a true soil drainage that 

 takes the excess moisture from the subsoil. Thou- 

 sands of miles of tile underdrains should be laid in 

 the tier of states represented in this parallel. Exam- 



