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Show SOW ALFALFA IN DRY AREAS Plant Produces Better Crops on land That Has Been Worked Than on Newly Broken 6oll. The advice which claims thnt alfalfa should not be sown hh the first crop on breaking is good, ut the reasons for the same are not always correct It is generally claimed that time should be given for the sod to decay, writes I'rof. Tims. Shaw In the Dakota Dako-ta Farmer. There Is a measure of truth In that explanation, but it Is not the real reason why alfalfa does better bet-ter at a later period, other things being be-ing equal. Where the normal precipitation I low. say from 10 to 15 Inches, the sod In dry and hard. In many instances it has not been wet down to the depth of more than three to four feet, and In many instances to a much less depth. If alfalfa Is sown as the flrBt crop, no time has been glvem for the soil moisture to go. If the ground was dry at the time of plowing and the weather remains dry, the moisture will not have gone down much farther far-ther than the depth of the plowing. The alfalfa will probably grow quickly until the roots reach the dry ground. This they will not penetrate as long as U remains dry. If the moisture had gone down Into the subsoil and made it moist, the alfalfa roots would have followed. The result would have been strong plants, and good yields should be expected In succeeding years. The explains, In part at least, why alfalfa produces better crops when sown on land that has been worked a while than when sown on newly broken land. The longer that the land has been Judiciously worked, the deeper the soil mosture may be expected ex-pected to go, up to a certain limit. That limit should not be less than eight to ten feet When alfalfa sUrts rigorously and the plants soon become strong, they have greater power to establish a good root system In the soil. The plants should not be too crowded or the moisture supply will not be enough, and the plant will bo correspondingly weak. In an abnormally dry season such plants will not furnish large yields. What has been said does not Imply that alfalfa should never be sown on breaking or on land that is quite new. Hut It does Imply ttiat the aim should be, where it Is practicable, to sow It on land that has moisture which has gone down for a considerable distance into the subsoil. That is one reason why It Is so Important to summer fallow fal-low land before alfalfa Is sown on It. The growth of the alfalfa, other things being equal, will be proportionate to the amount of moisture In the subsoil. |