CLOVERS AND OTHER LEGUMES 267 



secured, after which, if the timothy is not greatly desired, 

 and a regular rotation is being practiced, the ground is 

 prepared for corn the following year. 



If red clover is grown alone, about ten pounds of seed 

 per acre are used. The second season, a cutting of hay 

 may be taken off in early summer, and the succeeding 

 growth of clover may be cut for hay, allowed to form seed, 



Courtesy Iowa .S'mit College. 

 Fig. 117. — Making alfalfa liay. 



or be plowed under. Since the plant is a biennial, it dies in 

 the fall of the second year. 



Alfalfa. — There is no requirement named in Section 

 195 that may be safely disregarded in growing alfalfa east 

 of the Missouri River. Furthermore it is necessary that 

 the land be perfectly drained and that the weeds be kept 

 in check. 



West of the Missouri, it is only rarely that soil acidity 

 is found or that the land is lacking in phosphorus. More- 

 over, the soil usually contains those bacteria which alfalfa 

 requires so that inoculation is generally unnecessary. 



