268 



SOILS AND PLANT LIFE 



In the older states, inoculation is a highly important 

 matter as a rule. Soil for this purpose may be procured 

 either from another alfalfa field, or from a field of sweet 

 clover, or even from a patch of this plant along the road- 

 side, since the two kinds of plants require the same bac- 

 teria. 



The majority of growers in these states prefer not to 

 sow alfalfa with a nurse crop at all. Instead, they sow 



it alone in the late 

 summer either in land 

 that has ^delded a crop 

 of small grain or in 

 land that has borne no 

 crop but has been kept 

 idle or summer J alloived. 

 If stubble ground is 

 used for alfalfa, it 

 should be disced and 

 plowed as soon as the 

 small grain crop has 

 been removed. After 

 this, it should be disced 

 and harrowed every 

 few days until later 

 summer. In this way, 

 weed and other seeds are induced to germinate and are 

 subsequently killed ; and at the same time moisture from 

 midsummer showers is .stored and conserved. 



In late summer, then, the seed is drilled in at the rate 

 of fifteen or twenty pounds per acre. This should be 

 done early enough so that the young plants will have 

 become established before wdnter. In many sections, 

 alfalfa is sown in the spring wth a nurse crop, just as is 

 red clover. 



Fig. lis. — Putting alfalfa in the mow. 



