SEEDING AND CUTTING. 205 
Spring Plowing and Summer Sowing—Some 
have practiced spring plowing of the land and after- 
ward harrowing it after every rain, after every 
appearance of weed growth, until all the weed seeds 
are killed, then sowing the alfalfa alone in July. 
Usually this results in a good stand. The cost is 
considerable. No return from the land is had at 
all for one year and the repeated harrowings cost 
quite a little. It is one of the surest ways, perhaps, 
of getting alfalfa started in land very foul with 
grass and weeds. I do not advise this plan except 
in cases where it is extremely difficult to get a stand. 
By harrowing well after each rain nearly all of 
the moisture is conserved. Thus it is a plan well 
adapted to use in semi-arid regions where it is not 
easy to establish alfalfa because of lack of moisture 
in the soil. In such situations the land should be 
plowed in the fall and disked after each rain or 
snow fall and all care possible taken to conserve the 
moisture that falls. After once the land is moist 
down to a aepth of a foot or more and a thoroughly 
good seedbed is secured then the alfalfa may be 
sown, though in such situations iv is usually well to 
defer sowing till August. The state of tilth of 
soil and the amount of available moisture are more 
important determining factors, however, than the 
time of year in dry regions, where alfalfa does not 
‘heave out by frost in any event. 
I can not from my own experience recommend 
this plan of seeding for any states in the cornbelt 
region, since it is an unnecessary expense and no 
