GROWING ALFALFA SEED, 457 
be an average of from 4 to 10 plants to the running foot. It has 
been too often the case that the stand in the row has been too 
thick for the best development of the individual plants. In such 
instances cross-harrowing after a majority of the plants have 
become well established will be found to be very effective in thin- 
ning out the stand. 
Seeding in Check Rows to Permit Cross-Cultivation—Limited 
experiments with seeding in check rows indicate that with heavy 
seed-producing plants of satisfactory character very good yields 
of seed may be secured with hills 30 inches apart in the row. 
This distance permits of cross-cultivation, but is rather narrow 
for most cultivating machinery. The plants being thus isolated on 
all sides, the production of a maximum seed crop is possible. 
No practical means have yet been devised for seeding alfalfa in 
check rows on a large scale. It is probable that an ordinary 
check-row corn planter can be adapted to this work. It would 
be necessary to babbitt up the holes in the plate and then rim 
them out to drop 10 to 20 seeds in a place. The surviving plants 
can later on be thinned to the best plant in the hill. It is possi- 
ble that alfalfa seeded in rows with a wheat drill could be 
thinned out to practically uniform distances by cross-cultivation 
with an ordinary corn plow run at right angles to the rows. The 
plants, with the exception of a few midway between the two sets 
of shovels, would thus be destroyed. 
Time of Seeding—EHarly spring seeding will usually yield the 
best results, as more favorable moisture conditions for the 
germination and growth of the young plants are present at this 
time. However, if the soil can be brought into proper condition of 
tilth and moisture content, seeding can take place during the late 
summer if the danger of winterkilling is not too great. Ina 
climate of moderate severity if a 6-inch growth is made during 
the fall the plants will probably go through the winter safely, 
and will start out the following spring in much better condition 
to compete with the weeds than will spring-seeded plants. In 
semi-arid regions it is usually impracticable, however, to seed 
alfalfa in late summer or early fall owing to the lack of moisture 
necessary to insure prompt germination. 
In the Dakotas and Montana, June seeding will probably give 
the best results. If seeding is deferred until early summer and 
the soil is harrowed or otherwise treated to keep it in proper 
tilth, most of the weed seeds near the surface will germinate. 
The last cultivation given the land before the alfalfa is sown 
kills this young growth, thus greatly reducing the trouble with 
weeds during the first season. 
Treatment of the Stand the First Season.—The well-settled 
