486 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 
be too low to give sufficient fall growth to withstand 
winter’s freezings. I verily believe that every- 
where north of the Ohio River spring seeding is 
best, provided one can keep his land quite free from 
weeds by clean cultivation of his corn the preceding 
year. I mean absolutely clean cultivation. Here 
the use of the Spalding deep plows helps, as many 
weed seeds are too deeply buried to sprout again. 
Fall Seeding a Mistake—I do not like the term 
fall seeding, because it misleads people as to the na- 
ture of alfalfa. It is not at all like a grass that can 
live through winter just so it gets a toehold in the 
earth. Alfalfa must have firm rooting so that it will 
not be pulled up by frost. It is true that it is hardy 
against cold, but if the winter’s freezings lift the 
roots out it usually perishes. Thus in the cornbelt 
September and October seedings usually fail. Sep- 
tember seeding will do in Tennessee and southward, 
and in the gulf states one can sow as late as Nov. 1 
and often get a good stand, although even there 
October seeding is better. 
Seeding in the Latitude of Kentucky—In Ken- 
tucky summer grasses greatly trouble spring-sown 
alfalfa and it is usually most successfully sown in 
August or early September. The following points 
should be studied in Kentucky: Is the land really well 
drained? Discriminate between a sloping surface, 
giving surface drainage and a true soil drainage that 
takes the excess moisture from the subsoil. Thou- 
sands of miles of tile underdrains should be laid in 
the tier of states represented in this parallel. Exam- 
