ALFALFA 
:*o 
If the eai'th is broadcasted it should be 
harrowed in immediately. A smaller quan¬ 
tity of earth is required by wetting the 
seed with water in which enough glue has 
been dissolved to make the water sticky; 
the seed should be mixed with fine earth 
from another field. 
The Department of Agriculture, Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., sends out pure cultures of 
the bacteria in tubes, making inoculation 
convenient where soil is not readily obtain¬ 
ed. Simply follow directions. 
In the humid regions of the country, 
weeds are very troublesome, in many local¬ 
ities being the worst enemy of alfalfa. If 
the soil is fertile, has been well limed, and 
has been placed in proper condition before 
the alfalfa is sown, little need be feared 
from weeds. After alfalfa once gets a 
start it can kill out most of the weeds 
naturally. A clean field can usually be se¬ 
cured by preceding alfalfa with some clean 
cultivation crop., By seeding in the late 
summer the alfalfa plants by spring will 
have the start of the weeds. If weeds 
threaten to injure an old stand, their stalks 
can sometimes be burned out in the spring 
before the alfalfa starts. 
Dodder is one of a few weeds to be 
feared. Especial care should be taken to 
get seed free from dodder. The stems come 
up with the alfalfa, twine around it, and 
finally wither away. From that time until 
the death of both plants the dodder lives 
parasitically on the juices of the alfalfa. 
Therefore if dodder makes its appearance 
in a field of alfalfa and becomes well es¬ 
tablished, the alfalfa should be rooted out 
by using the field for some other crop 
for several years. Wild barley often ruins 
the first crop in irrigated regions of the 
West. Quack or couch grass, Kentucky 
blue grass, and foxtail grass are weeds 
dangerous in other regions. 
PUTTING IN THE SEED. 
A great many facts have been collected 
on seeding alfalfa, not all of which apply 
to a particular locality by any means, nor 
even agree with one another in some cases. 
The time of sowing varies widely between 
one part of the country and another. Mid¬ 
summer sowing is probably most popular 
in the Forth and East. If the seed is put 
in between June and the first of September, 
the young plants are usually strong enough 
to resist winterkilling. Some advise spring 
sowing—the last of May and early June, 
but this is not best where weeds are likely 
to disturb the young plants. In the hot 
irrigated portions seed may be sown any 
time between April and August. Fall seed¬ 
ing is most common—-September, October, 
or November. 
Early maturing crops do well to precede 
alfalfa. The clean culture of potatoes and 
garden truck rids the land of weeds, aerates 
the soil, and makes an introductory appli¬ 
cation of nitrogen unnecessary. Corn in 
the North and cotton in the South are both 
suitable. A crop of crimsOn clover cut for 
hay builds up the soil and gives plenty of 
time to get the land ready for alfalfa. 
Too much care can hardly be given to the 
selection of seed. Not only thru careless¬ 
ness in this respect do weeds get their 
foothold, but failure often comes from 
adulterated seed or seed of poor quality. 
The average quality of alfalfa seed in the 
market is low. A considerable quantity of 
dead seed has been sold and it is sometimes 
adulterated with trefoil. In every case be¬ 
fore buying, samples should be tested for 
germination, either by a home testing-plate 
or sending to the seed laboratory of the 
Department of Agriculture, Washington. 
D. C., which does this testing free of 
charge. A home test should show a ger¬ 
mination of at least 95 per cent. If the ger¬ 
mination is low, a larger quantity should be 
sown than if the germination is high. 
Seed grown in the northern States may 
be planted with success in the southern, 
but the reverse is not true. It is always 
well to get seed grown in the same latitude 
in which it is to be sown. While ordinary’ 
alfalfa is very satisfactory, certain kinds 
have local advantages. Superior resistance 
to the cold, as well as greater tonnage to 
the acre, is claimed for the Grimm alfalfa 
and the commercial sand lucerne. The Bal¬ 
tic has also been found a superior strain. 
It is necessary to plow deeply for alfalfa. 
The roots need all the moisture they can 
get, and the ground should be thoroly stir¬ 
red up, so that air can penetrate to the 
nodules. The seed bed should be fine on 
top, but thoroly settled; for this reason it 
is well to let the land rest for six weeks 
after plowing and then to give it a light 
