244 Illinois State Dairymen's Association. 



ALFALFA IN INDIANA. 



By A. T. Wiancko, Agriculturist, Purdue University Station. 



L^Experiments in Late Summer Seeding. 



The increasing interest in alfalfa culture among Indiana 

 farmers and the many failures in attempts to establish the crop 

 have brought a constant stream of inquiries to the Station con- 

 cerning time and methods of seeding. The common practice was 

 to sow the alfalfa in the spring of the year, either with or with- 

 out a nurse crop of oats or barley, and it was observed that the 

 majority of the failures were due more or less directly to the 

 presence of large numbers of spring and summer weeds, which 

 gradually crowded and choked the alfalfa plants to such an ex- 

 tent that they dwindled away to nothing as the summer ad- 

 vanced. It also appeared that in many cases the nurse crop was 

 of doubtful value as a protection against weeds, and that it often 

 did positive harm by shading the young alfalfa too much. It 

 seemed, therefore, that the question to be answered was how to 

 avoid both weeds and nurse crop. 



The most practical solution of the problem seemed to lie in 

 first destroying the weed seeds in the soil and then sowing the 

 alfalfa alone. This involved late seeding in order to give time to 

 get rid of the weeds, which could be practically done only by 

 plowing the ground early and harrowing it every ten days or two 

 weeks for a period of several weeks, until all the weed seeds in 

 the surface soil were sprouted and destroyed. By this method 

 the ground might be expected to be in good condition for seeding 

 by the eaarly part of June, and since it is not usually advvisable to 

 take a hay crop or pasture the field the first season, there ap- 

 peared to be no serious objection to even later seeding so long as 

 sufficient growth to thoroughly establish the plants could be 

 secured before winter. 



While this method was generally conceded to be safe and 

 practical, two objections were urged against it, namely; the ex- 

 tra labor of preparing the ground for sowing and the sacrifice 

 of a year's crop from the land. To avoid these objections, late 

 summer seeding, after a small grain or other early harvested crop 

 had been removed, was suggested. To determine the value of 

 this suggestion an experiment was undertaken on the University 

 Farm in the summer of 1905. Ground was prepared in early 

 August and seeded to alfalfa on the 17th day of the month. This 

 seedine was in every way satisfactory. A good stand of plants 



