THIRTY-SIXTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 257 



August as to what time it should be sown. Frequently the first 

 of August is better than later sowing and very good returns have 

 been gotten by sowing in July. 



Clean seed of strong vitality and free from obnoxious weeds 

 should be used and sown at the rate of fifteen to twenty pounds 

 per acre. Seed containing dodder should always be avoided. 

 Twenty pounds is usually to be recommended unless the seed is 

 very good and the seedbed in exceptionally good condition. The 

 seed is best broadcasted and lightly harrowed in, covering to a 

 depth of from one-fourth to one-half inch. A more even stand 

 will be secured if one-half the seed is sown one way and the 

 other half across this seeding. The seed may also be drilled in 

 with the seed attachment of a grain drill allowing the hoes to 

 cover it lightly. 



On very fertile lands, alfalfa is sometimes seeded in the 

 spring with good success, but on the thinner soils plants seeded 

 in the spring are usually overcome by weeds and grass before 

 they get set. Where it is sown in the spring it may be sown alone 

 or with a light seeding of oats or barley for a nurse crop. It is 

 sometimes sown on wheat in the spring in much the same man- 

 ner as clover but this should be done only on the very best lands 

 such as the bottom lands along the Missouri and Mississippi 

 rivers. In fall sowing there is some danger of the plants being 

 burned out if dry weather follows the seeding and if near a 

 meadow the grasshoppers frequently destroy the young plants, 

 but for ordinary upland the chances for a successful stand are 

 much better than where spring sowing is practiced. 



The seed bed must be well prepared. Young alfalfa plants 

 are very tender and the conditions must be favorable to start 

 them off well. For spring sowing, the ground should be plowed 

 in the fall so as to allow it to be well settled below before seed- 

 ing. In the spring, the ground should be worked down and a 

 well pulverized seed bed prepared. For fall sowing, the ground 

 should be plowed early, preferably in June or July, plowing deep 

 and working down at once. It should be worked at frequent in- 

 tervals until time to sow to kill all growth of grass and weeds and 



