92 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



In the absence of irrigation and also of marked 

 humidity in the dimate, what may be termed mild 

 clay subsoils furnish the best subsoil conditions for 

 growing alfalfa. In these it gathers suitable food. 

 These subsoils, oftentimes, possess a sufficiency of 

 moisture through all the season to sustain good crops. 

 Of course, in dry seasons the subsoil moisture may 

 become so reduced as to materially interfere with 

 abundant production. But in climates of average 

 humidity, they are satisfactory for growing this crop. 



Place in tlic Rotation. — Properly speaking, 

 alfalfa can scarcely be said to be a rotation plant, 

 owing to the long period through which it continues 

 to grow. That is one of the objections urged against 

 growing it. But in certain areas favorable to its 

 development, it may be grown for a term of years 

 more or less limited, and then followed by certain 

 other crops for an intervening term of years. As it 

 is one of those plants which gather nitrogen from 

 the air, it is so far a soil renovator. Alfalfa should, 

 therefore, precede some crop which requires much 

 nitrogen to perfect its growth, as, for instance, corn 

 or wheat. Deep-rooted plants may follow alfalfa 

 with much propriety, since they can find ample food 

 in the subsoils even, in which alfalfa roots are mold- 

 ering, as, for instance, field roots, or rape. And the 

 crop that precedes alfalfa should, if possible, be a 

 cleaning one. 



The task of plowing a soil filled brimful of 

 alfalfa roots of strong growth is by no means an 

 easy one. But it may be facilitated by using a plow 

 with a share somewhat serrated in its cutting edge. 

 When the plow is drawn, these serrations will cut 

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