210 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 
Preparation for Crop.—When alfalfa is to follow 
wheat the land may be well limed in the fall before 
the wheat is sown, if it is in need of lime. As early 
as possible the wheat shocks should be taken off 
and immediately the plow started in the stubble. 
Now is a dangerous time, since one may so easily 
lose his moisture and get instead of a seedbed a 
mass of sunbaked clods that no harrowing will re- 
duce to fineness. To avoid this each half day what 
land is plowed should be fitted by use of harrow and 
drag, or perhaps use of roller, followed at once by 
harrow. It is not sufficient to fit each evening what 
has been plowed during the day, but each half day’s 
work must be completed within that half day. This 
is also much the easier way. An hour spent upon 
freshly turned land will do more than a half day 
after the furrows have dried out into hard clods. 
Be not content, either, with a half preparation of 
the land. Do a good job of it. Use drag, disk and 
smoothing harrow. Make the earth fine. Seal up 
in it all the moisture it holds. It is work well spent. 
Since it must be done in any event it is wise and 
economical to do it immediately it is plowed, when 
an hour’s work is worth a half day’s later on. In 
order to do this best it may be well to let the man 
who does the plowing work till about 9:30 in the 
morning, then, unhitching from the plow, hitch to 
the plank drag and go over what he has plowed with 
that. Unhitching from it, hitch to the disk harrow, 
and after disking then go over it with the slant-tooth 
smoothing harrow. which finishes it pretty well and 
