SUMMARY OF ALFALFA SOWING. 503 
on sandy loam with encouraging success, her alfalfa 
growing nearly 3’ high. Unhappily, all of these 
fields went under 12’ of water in the spring of 1912, 
but that is not a catastrophe to be seen again in my 
lifetime, probably. It is at least definitely proved 
that alfalfa is well adapted to most of the alluvial 
soils of the delta region along the Mississippi River. 
Few if any of these soils need lime. Strangely 
enough, we failed absolutely to grow melilotus on 
this same soil, I do not know why, but we did not 
need the plant, since we had the better one, alfalfa. 
Lespedeza grew luxuriantly and we made hay from 
it as well as from alfalfa. 
Alfaifa on Woodland Farm—wNaturally one knows 
most of his own farm, and some things that we have 
learned since the first edition of this book was 
printed may be helpful. We have in no essential 
thing changed our manner of farm practice. We 
continue to grow alfalfa for four or more years on 
the land, followed then by two vears of corn, the 
second vear with manure and back to alfalfa again. 
This is our plan, but circumstances sometimes modi: 
fy it. We usually eut our alfalfa but three times, 
learning that a strong growth left standing results 
in much less winterkilling and makes a far better 
growth the following season. The year 1911 was, 
however, an unhappy one for alfalfa in Ohio. A 
good first cutting was taken, then followed unprece- 
dented heat and drouth, with a plague of grasshop- 
pers that ate off the buds of the young alfalfa as 
fast as they appeared. The result was that our 
