Show cwi RAISE ALFALFA SEED either too much or too attla water affects yield sunlight strong factor and isolated plant will equal several crowded together rows should bo thinned by disk A high development of abo ual alfalfa plant Is necessary tor high seed production therefore plants should not only be seeded in somewhat wide rows but even thinned it feces cary in the row either too much or too little water will affect the yield in the first case a second growth alir take place and in the other there may not bo enough moisture to mature q crop the margin is a narrow one and unfavorable moisture condition account tor many low yields an 18 inch rainfall properly distributed Is about right for a seed crop thirty inches will prove too much especially if much rain falls in the blooming sea son high temperatures are necessary for betting of seed and its development though occasionally the flowers re blasted by over hot weather oc sas ional light frosts only retard seed development but either continued light frosts or a killing one will spoil the chances of a seed crop the ex elusion of insects from plants tends to make thorn sterile as the tripping of the fertilizing portions of the flowers does not take place bumblebees from their weight and wild bees by the insertion of their bodies accod tripping more perfectly than the tame bee which draws the nectar with its proboscis ordinarily alfalfa sets its seed with the pollen from an other flower but it Is self fertilizing i the flower be tripped lands aher alfalfa easily finds moisture are seldom good seed producers as they make a second growth from the sterna of the first growth which la BO rank as to lie down sunlight Is a strong in seed production and the isolated alfalfa plant will equal several plants crowded together having a much better developed system of branches to carry the seed pods two to three pounds of seed per acre is sut for row seeding and a further il lowance should be made in the number ot plants in an arid climate when moist seasons cams the plants will thrive below and above ground the spread of the branches will fill a very large area and when moisture Is lack ang tho robots with proper cultivation have a much larger area from which to draw moisture the distance be tapen rows may be from 18 inches up as high as tour feet at which distance the sleds at calco cal were as good us at any other width probably a less distance will be better it the plants be thinned in the rows by the disk or plowing and the yield of hay which Is not much lessened by row sowing over broadcasting be finer when hay rather than seed Is desired the crop to leave for seed depends on what season of the year gives the best seed maturing conditions also in the arid country it will often be evl dent at the time of the first cutting that there Is not moisture enough in the ground to start and mature a second crop either tor hay or seed and it must then depend on the growers judgment whether to cut tor hay and then cultivate the ground awaiting rain it the ground Is merely dry OB top a good cultivation will restore things but it digging shows it to be dry clear down rain must be awaited and it the alfalfa be allowed to stand tor seed in such condition my expert ence Is that a second growth will al most always art when rain comes the seed be lost and two crops of al talta occupy the ground at the same time this Is less apt to occur when tho rain gets clear down into the soil than it it were merely superficial which affects the upper part of the plants and sprouts the buda at the ex pense of the main plant |