80 BULLETIN 694, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
On the whole, conditions are favorable to a much greater extension 
of the acreage of alfalfa in the area, especially on the heavier soil 
types. However, a number of details should receive closer attention. 
In a large number of fields the effects of poor drainage were clearly 
evident. There were numerous spots where the alfalfa had been 
winterkilled. These occurred alike on hill slopes and in depressions 
where the drainage was naturally poor or where seepage has kept 
the soil constantly saturated with an excess of water. A thorough 
system of tile drainage will prevent winterkilling to a very great 
extent, if not almost entirely. [Tf it is not convenient to give the 
entire alfalfa field a thorough drainage system, it is at least highly 
desirable to drain the parts of the fields where the crop has been. 
killed out. This should be done before existing fields are‘reseeded, 
or tile may be put in the parts of the field which have been killed 
out and these may be reseeded without molesting the stand in the 
remainder of the field. 
The results which have been obtained with alfalfa in this area have 
been secured almost entirely without the use of lime or artificial 
inoculation. There is no doubt that both would be of considerable 
assistance in starting new fields and that they would add materially 
to the production of hay after the crop is well established. On farms 
where it has been difficult to get a stand of alfalfa, and especially on 
the sandy types of soil, it would be well to apply from one to three 
tons of ground limestone or marl per acre and work it well into the 
surface while preparing the seed bed. This general treatment has 
proven very effective on sandy lands in general in northern Indiana 
and southern Michigan.! 
In most cases the seed either should be inoculated with artificial 
culture, or with sweet clover soil or soil from another alfalfa field 
scattered over the surface and harrowed in shortly before sowing the 
seed. (For full details see Farmers’ Bulletin 704.) 
Considering the fact that alfalfa, in general, is doing well in nearly 
all parts of the area surveyed, and that it has been established with 
little effort other than preparing the ground thoroughly and sowing 
the seed, it would seem that in this section this crop promises well 
for the future. A little more attention to details would go far toward 
insuring success. Tile drainage, lime, and artificial inoculation are 
the essential factors of success which are being neglected most. More 
attention should be paid to those factors, together with careful con- 
sideration of the most desirable acreage to meet the demands of the 
individual farm and at the same time not to interfere with the labor 
schedule of the farm in general and with the cultivation of the corn 
crop in particular. | 
1 United States Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Bulletin 716, entitled, ‘‘Management of Sandy-land 
Farms in Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan. ”’ 
