186 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 
phosphate is about the most soluble of the phos- 
phatic fertilizers and thus is best for top dressing 
when there is abundant lime in the soil. When there 
is suspicion that there may not be hme enongh then 
basic slag or bone meal should be used, unless lime 
also is applied. Acid phosphate dissolves away a 
part of the lime in the soil. That is its one bad 
feature. 
As has been stated the alfalfa meadows on Wood- 
land Farm get an annual dressing of phosphorus 
young and old alike, and this practice pays well. 
Fertilizer Distributer--On Woodland Farm we 
own a wide and large fertilizer distributer. This 
machine sows a strip 8 wide and the box holds 1,000 
pounds of fertilizer. It simply sows the stuff broad- 
east on the surface. There are various types of 
these machines. The American Seeding Machine 
Co., Springfield, Ohio, makes one, and another is 
made hy the Peoria Drill and Seeder Co., Peoria, 
Til. With such a machine a man can go rapidly 
over his old meadow, or sow his phosphorus over 
his land preparatory to seeding his alfalfa. Time 
is the thing hardest to command on most farms in 
the spring; many would fertilize their meadows if 
they were not otherwise too busy. With these large 
wide sowing machines a man can rapidly get over 
his fields. No one should hesitate to buy the fer- 
tilizer, since a dollar so invested will usually re- 
turn three or four in the erop of hay. 
Adding to Fertility—There is here a_ striking 
thought. Since our farms east of the Missouri 
