SUMMARY OF ALFALFA SOWING. 517 
over the field without touching the main crown. While in 
the case of the exposed crown, disking or even harrowing will 
wound the crown, which causes rot to set in, the result being 
weakening and consequent death of the plant. 
“Fifth, that by the buried crown method, alfalfa culture 
can be carried to a successful issue in sections of the United 
States where heretofore, under the common practice, it had 
proved a rather uncertain speculation, owing to climatic ex- 
tremities and heaving by ice, both being guarded against by 
a four-inch soil cover. 
“Sixth, that by the buried crown method, never more 
than five pounds of seed are required per acre, if seeded 
broadcast, and considerably less if planted with some kind of 
a drill. The thin planting gives the best results both in dry 
and wet seasons. In wet seasons, the plant will throw out 
several hundred stems and completely take up all the avail- 
able space. In dry seasons, the plant not only adjusts itself 
to the amount of available moisture, but owing to its stronger 
root development, is enabled to collect more moisture and 
thus produce a crop where thickly planted fields fail.” 
There must be great merit in the Bierwagen sys- 
tem for the dry and cold plains of the Northwest. 
It seems hardly worth while for the region east of 
the Missouri, although it may well be worth testing 
even here. 
Alfalfa Hardiness.—Alfalfas vary immensely in 
hardiness, according to variety and the locality from 
which the seed comes. Arabian and Peruvian al- 
falfas winterkill in the northern states; seed from 
Arizona is not hardy in Nebraska; Nebraska seed 
is not always hardy in the Dakotas. Seed from the 
Dakotas is hardy almost anywhere in the United 
States, as is also the Grimm, and the Siberian varie- 
ties brought over by Prof. N. E. Hansen will stand 
the severest extremes of climate. It has not yet 
