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Show HOW TO SOW ALFALFA PLANT Soil Should Be Quite Firm With Good Mulch Cultivate to Conserve All the Moisture. (By PROF. ELIAS NELSON, Irrigation Engineer, Idaho.) Good preparation of the land for planting is important. The soil should be quite firm and should have a mulch of loose soil an Inch and a half or two inches deep over the surface. Fall plowing will insure sufficient packing pack-ing of the soil and In the spring surface sur-face can be worked up into good seed bed. The early cultivation should begin be-gin as soon in spring as the ground can be worked and be continued to conserve moisture until danger of heavy freezing is over, when seeding may be done. There should be sufficient suffi-cient moisture In the soil to bring up the alfalfa and keep it growing until it is eight or ten inches high, when water may be applied if needed. With spring plowing it is difficult to get a seed bed firm enough and one that will retain moisture well enough for best results. The soil will be too loose and will dry out quickly. It is therefore there-fore advisable when the land is plowed plow-ed In spring to irrigate before seeding, seed-ing, provided there has not been an abundance of rain. Alfalfa may be started at any time during the season until as late as August or even September, Sep-tember, provided the land is Irrigated beforehand. In some localities where early fall frosts occur seeding in September may not be practicable. For the best results the seeding should be tolerably early In spring. The particular time will depend upon the altitude and the local climatic conditions. A few degrees of frost will do no injury but a heavy frost is likely to kill alfalfa when just out of the ground. If the seed bed Is In perfect condition condi-tion and a drill be used, eight to twelve pounds of first grade seed per acre should be sufficient for a good stand. The use of a seeder that sows In drills and covers the seed is to be recommended as the seeds are covered cov-ered and each seed is given an enual chance for germination with every other. A drill with press wheels attached at-tached is also desirable. The seed should be sown shallow from one-half one-half inch to two Inches deep. If a drill is not to be had, the alfalfa may be broadcasted and harrowed In. The author has seen very good stands from broadcasting with the wheelbarrow wheelbar-row seeder. Drilling, however, is the better method. Seeding without a nurse crop will give best results. Especially is thus true on raw sage brush land that has not been in alfalfa before. Sown alone the alfalfa will make a fairly good growth the first year and under favorable conditions may make a light crop. It will become well established and yield well the second year.. When sown with a nurse crop on new land it generally makes but a spindling growth the first year and does not produce a root system and a crown strong enough to enable it to msVca good returns the second year. Thus seeding with a nurse crup is not a good practice, at least not on new land, as the nurse crop does not make up for the loss in yield of alfalfa the second year. On land that has been in alfalfa once and is in good tilth, seeding with a nurse crop is allowable, and mav give good results. The grain shruld be sown at the proper time In spring, but seeding of alfalfa should be delayed de-layed just before the first Irrigation. At that time broadcast and harrow it In. If the furrow system of irrigation Is employed run the harrow with tho furrows so as not to fill them up. Tho seeding of alfalfa and the first irrigation irriga-tion must of course take place before the grain gets too high. When sown In this way the Irrigation water can be applied according to the grain crop may require, If sown together with tho nurse crop it may be in need of irrigation irri-gation earlier than is ordinarily beneficial bene-ficial for grain. When the soli Is light and heavy winds are prevalent it is necessary to seed with a nurse crop as a protection protec-tion against the wind. One-half or two-thirds the seed used when the grain Is sown alone should be used. |