282 tHE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



Farming here cannot be a success without it, and I take 

 pleasure in recommending it to my brother farmers. 

 It will lie dormant all summer if it is dry, and with fall 

 rains revive and make good pasture. It is the earliest 

 plant up In the spring, and the last to stay green in the 

 fall. In other words, it is the best of all 



Hartman & Weil, San Miguel county, — ^We have been 

 dealers in alfalfa hay for eight years, and have some 

 small fields of our own. This is on both bottom and 

 upland. In the bottom, the subsoil is sand and bowlders ; 

 on the upland, stiff bluish clay, and in some places blue 

 limestone. Well water is reached on the bottom land 

 at a depth of 8 to lo feet, through soil moist all the way; 

 on the upland, it is necessary to dig 60 to 100 feet, and, 

 beginning two to four feet from the surface, the ground 

 is dry. When seed is planted in the spring, the soil 

 should be well pulverized, moist, and warm, that the seed 

 may germinate quickly. It should not be put in deeper 

 than 1 5^ inches, and may be planted in May or June, or 

 any time in the spring after the soil becomes warm. In 

 our climate, it is best to sow about 30 pounds of good 

 seed to the acre, besides just enough oats to shade the 

 ground and protect the young alfalfa from the hot sun. 

 Once well started, it will kill out all weeds, and does not 

 winterkill here. We irrigate from streams. Alfalfa 

 should not be irrigated when quite young, for, if the 

 small plant is covered with soil, when watered, it will 

 not come up again, but, after it gets a good start, it is 

 not easily killed. There should be about two irrigations 

 to each crop harvested, or, ordinarily, six in a season. 

 The heavier the stand the more water is needed. We 



