SEEDING AND CUTTING. 221 
ular rotation, alfalfa should be mixed with the clover 
seed. If 10 per cent of alfalfa seed is used it will be 
enough to give a good sprinkling of alfalfa plants 
and later a thorough inoculation of the land. How 
this inoculation comes we do not know. Certain it 
is that when alfalfa is sown on suitable soil, dry and 
with lime enough, it becomes inoculated in a year 
or two by natural means. Thus two things are ac- 
complished: One gets a good general idea of the 
suitability of the soil to alfalfa and he gets it in- 
oculated so that when a little later he sows alfalfa 
alone it assuredly grows strong from the start. 
Furthermore, the mixture of red clover and 
alfalfa is a good mixture anyway. It makes more 
hay and more pasture than red clover pure. It en- 
riches the soil more efficiently. Alfalfa is nearly as 
easily established as red clover. If sown with oats 
or if the wheat is harrowed to let the seed be covered 
it is certain to make a pretty good stand mixed in 
this way. 
Red Clover with Alfalfa—On ‘the other hand, 
some men practice sowing red clover with alfalfa. 
They claim that with the addition of about 20 per 
cent of red clover seed to the alfalfa they get a heav- 
ier yield of hay the first year following the seeding 
and the next year pure alfalfa results which outyields 
adjoining fields or plots that have had no red clover 
in them. That is, the decay of the red clover roots, 
they assert, enriches the soil for the alfalfa. This 
is said of some soils in Pennsylvania. In my own 
experience this is not a very good practice, since 
