SUMMARY OF ALFALFA SOWING. 479 
growers, some of them quite amusing, although ex- 
asperating. Often they will read thus: 
“‘T have a field that I wish to sow to alfalfa. It 
slopes to the west. It was in wheat this year and 
corn last year. Do you think alfalfa would grow 
well there? If so, how shall I sow it?”’ 
Such letters simply show how superficially these 
men have learned to think of their soils. To such 
queries one can only answer: ‘‘I do not know.’’ 
The sort of letter that I love to get reads like this: 
“My field is thoroughly drained. It is well limed 
with ground limestone. Muriatic acid applied to 
the soil will bring effervescence in any part. The 
soil has had much manure and is rich. How shall I 
proceed to get alfalfa?”’ 
One can safely reply to this man: 
‘“Tnoculate with soil from some successful alfalfa 
field or from a sweet clover patch. As fast as the 
inoculated earth is applied harrow to cover it from 
the sun. Make a fairly good seedbed and sow al- 
falfa in March, April, May, June, July or August. 
If you live to the southward sow it preferably in 
September or October. You are sure to succeed.’’ 
The point I wish to make is that growing alfalfa 
is a soil matter almost altogether. There are many 
successful ways of preparing the land and sowing 
the seed. 
For the help of hurried farmers unversed in al- 
falfa culture I will now present a summary of some 
successful ways of sowing the alfalfa plant in vari- 
ous localities—a sort of ‘‘rule of thumb.’’ 
