Chapter II: Part 2

Speaking of the alleged different varieties of alfalfa, the seed of which is urged upon buyers by seedsmen, the editor of the _Oklahoma Farm Journal_ pertinently says:

“We see occasional references to ‘dry land’ alfalfa and statements that it’s a kind that just longs for the hilltops so that it may turn off big crops of rich hay from land too dry and hard to yield good sorghum. Don’t forget that the one thing to look for when purchasing alfalfa seed is good seed, that will grow. It’s hard to find and the price is usually high. When you buy it, buy subject to test and send a fair sample of about an ounce to your experiment station, where it will be tested without charge. At the present time there is but one variety of alfalfa that Oklahoma farmers should buy, and that is good alfalfa seed. There is no ‘dry land’ variety of alfalfa, and the much boomed Turkestan variety isn’t as good for sowing in Oklahoma as Oklahoma or Kansas grown seed. Rich soil, thorough preparation, good seed well sowed, cutting at the right time, harrowing when weeds and grass bother, all these are requisite to success with this most valuable crop, and it pays for all the bother.”

Seed from Nebraska and northwestern Kansas has been generally successful through Iowa and Illinois, and is probably adapted to Ohio and southern Pennsylvania. Utah seed produces good crops in Minnesota, the extremes of cold and heat in Utah having developed a strain that does well in cold climates. The writer would use Utah grown seed for New York, northern New Jersey and northern Pennsylvania, and seed from Wyoming or Montana for New England. On the sandy land of southern New Jersey, in Delaware and Maryland, the seed grown in southern Colorado and southern Kansas ought to do well.

Prof. H. M. Cottrell, formerly agriculturist of the Kansas experiment station, says: “One year I sowed 20 acres to alfalfa--19 acres with Utah grown seed and one acre with imported seed; both showed a germination of over 98 per cent, and the growth was good from both lots all through the season, with no difference that could be detected. The next spring there was a good stand all over the 19 acres seeded with Utah seed, and not a single live plant on the acre seeded with the imported seed. I have seen several trials with imported seed, and never yet saw a good crop harvested from it. Usually after passing through the first winter there is from one-fourth to one-half a stand from such seed; the plants make a weak growth and, if allowed to remain, most of them die out in two or three years. Descriptions of the puny growth in reports of failures of this crop, given by eastern growers, make one think that probably imported seed had been sown. No intelligent farmer would take corn grown in the warm soil and climate and long season of southern Kansas and expect to grow a good crop in New York on heavy soil with short seasons. It is even more difficult to succeed with so great a change in growing alfalfa, as it would have to withstand the long severe winter, as well as the change in summer conditions. No one should sow alfalfa seed without knowing where and under what conditions it was grown.”

New seed, other conditions being right, is always preferable, although that kept for several years, properly cared for, may have retained most of its germinability. Such tests as have been made appeared to show a loss in well stored seed of only about one and one-half per cent of germinability in five years. W. P. Headden (Colorado Bul. No. 35) after various experiments declares, “the results are positive in showing that the age of seed up to six years does not affect its germinating power.” It is usually handled and stored by seedsmen in the ordinary seamless cotton sacks holding from 150 to 160 pounds, and quoted and sold by the pound or hundred-pounds instead of by the bushel. The legal weight of a bushel of recleaned alfalfa seed is sixty pounds.

Although the seed is handled in sacks for convenience, seedsmen say there is no good reason why it might not be safely stored in bulk in bins without any deterioration from heating, or otherwise. There might, however, be some degree of danger from weevils or other insect pests in warm weather. Exposed to too much light, seed will lose its bright yellow color and change to a brownish cast. When stored, dealers say, it does not go through a “sweating” process as do the seeds of some other forage plants and grasses.

IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF SEED

In years of large production in America and a shortage in other countries, considerable American seed goes abroad to Italy, France, Germany and Australia. The largest portion is consigned to Germany because extensive seed houses at Hamburg act as distributers to all portions of the world, from which they receive demands.

In recent years the United States has been a buyer rather than a seller, and imports have been as follows:

Year Lbs.
1902-3 1,018,559
1903-4 2,200,267
1904-5 2,865,324

According to the government authorities the bulk of the imported seed comes from Germany and France. That having the best reputation in Europe comes from Provence, (southeastern) France. A small quantity comes from Italy, but it is not generally considered to be of as good quality as that grown farther north. Seedsmen complain that many consignments of the foreign seed contain large quantities of Yellow trefoil and Bur clover.

It is a fallacy popular among farmers and country seed dealers that great quantities of alfalfa seed are exported to be used for dyeing purposes. There is no foundation in fact for such a belief, and the exportations made, like the importations, are for seeding purposes exclusively.

IMPURITIES AND ADULTERATIONS

A foremost source of danger and loss, aside from infertile seed, is impurities and adulterants in the alfalfa seed planted. Growers often are careless and do not examine their alfalfa before or at the time of harvesting, and do not reclean their seed after threshing, thus sending out among innocent purchasers seed mixed with those of weeds, inferior grasses and forage plants, and with various trash which adds bulk and weight but has no value. The commonest seed adulterants or impurities are those of Sweet clover (_Melilotus alba_) (Illus. opp. p. 26), Bur clover (_Medicago denticulata_), Spotted clover (_Medicago Arabica_) (p. 67), Yellow trefoil or Hop clover (_Medicago lupulina_) (p. 26), and the Dodders (_Cuscuta epithymum_ and _Cuscuta arvensis_), (pp. 45 and 47).

The pods of Yellow trefoil are shaped as here shown and contain but a single seed. Magnified four diameters]

Alfalfa has a spiral pod of two or three turns, often containing five or six seeds. Magnified four diameters]

Magnified four diameters]

The seeds are enclosed in a coiled pod which is covered with bristly projections as shown above. Magnified four diameters]

That an extraordinary proportion of the alfalfa seed in the markets, wheresoever from, is adulterated to an amazing extent with seeds of undesirable plants or loaded with worthless, if not actually harmful impurities, is being demonstrated by the United States Department of Agriculture. In a circular pertaining to this work is given the following, showing the adulterants found in samples bought in the open markets of the cities named:

---------------------------------------------------------------
Seeds used as adulterants.
------------------+----------+----------+----------+-----------
| Sweet | Bur | Yellow | Total
City where bought | clover | clover | trefoil |adulterants
------------------+----------+----------+----------+-----------
|_Per Cent_|_Per Cent_|_Per Cent_|_Per Cent_
Providence, R. I. | .... | 3.47 | 32.86 | 36.33
Denver, Colo. | .... | 16.86 | .... | 16.86
Rochester, N. Y. | .... | 5.02 | 39.48 | 44.50
Milwaukee, Wis. | .... | 5.74 | .... | 5.74
Indianapolis, Ind.| .... | 4.27 | 38.43 | 42.70
„ „ | .... | 3.90 | 39.53 | 43.43
Marblehead, Mass. | .... | 3.00 | .... | 3.00
Petersburg, Va. | .... | .... | 1.25 | 1.25
Cedar Rapids, Iowa| .... | 5.49 | .... | 5.49
Indianapolis, Ind.| .... | 3.37 | 38.54 | 41.91
Pittsfield, Mass. | 9.52 | .... | .... | 9.52
Atlanta, Ga. | .... | 10.04 | .... | 10.04
Salem, Ill. | .... | .... | 6.98 | 6.98
St. Paul, Minn. | .... | .... | 31.77 | 31.77
Louisville, Ky. | .... | 16.53 | .... | 16.53
New Haven, Conn. | .... | 5.88 | 39.85 | 45.73
Independence, Iowa| .... | 12.69 | .... | 12.69
New Orleans, La. | .... | 2.57 | .63 | 3.20
Troy, N. Y. | .... | 6.23 | 31.26 | 37.49
------------------+----------+----------+----------+-----------

In Farmers’ Bulletin No. 194 of the United States Department of Agriculture is given the table on page 34 to show the result of analyses of alfalfa seed imported within a period of six months.

----------+-------+------+-----+--------+---------+-------+--------
| |Broken| | Number | Number |Alfalfa|
| | seed | | of weed|of dodder| seed |
Laboratory|Alfalfa| and | Weed|seeds in|seeds in |that’ll| Amount
test No. | seed | dirt |seeds|1 pound |1 pound | grow |imported
----------+-------+------+-----+--------+---------+-------+--------
| _Per_ | _Per_|_Per_| | | _Per_ |
| _Ct._ | _Ct._|_Ct._| | | _Ct._ |_Pounds_
21000 | 93.38 | 5.8 | 0.82| 2,160 | .... | 63.73 | 4,000
21001 | 92.1 | 7.34| .56| 900 | .... | 59.17 | 30,800
21002 | 82.28 | 15.92| 1.8 | 3,060 | .... | 66.64 | 5,500
21003 | 84.72 | 11.58| 3.7 | 3,420 | .... | 57.39 | 32,877
21004 | 89.16 | 8.78| 2.06| 2,700 | 90 | 62.18 | 14,700
21005 | 74.06 | 21.38| 4.56| 15,928 | 2,520 | 53.87 | 7,613
21006 | 58.74 | 34.46| 6.8 | 32,420 | 5,490 | 28.78 | 33,075
21007 | 86.12 | 11.34| 2.54| 8,964 | 270 | 61.36 | 8,779
21008 | 73.02 | 22.32| 4.66| 12,829 | 90 | 49.65 | 32,963
21009 | 96.82 | 2.72| .46| 990 | .... | 85.2 | 33,000
21010 | 86.2 | 12.1 | 1.7 | 3,060 | .... | 55.59 | 30,800
21011 | 96.96 | 2.16| .88| 1,710 | .... | 87.26 | 5,500
21012 | 88.84 | 3.98| 7.18| 17,299 | .... | 43.2 | 33,000
21013 | 96.24 | 2.66| 1.1 | 3,510 | .... | 77.47 | 21,340
21014 | 91.06 | 5.44| 3.5 | 7,650 | .... | 62.14 | 8,778
21015 | 93.44 | 2.7 | 3.86| 8,526 | .... | 77.08 | 33,000
21016 | 77.78 | 16.04| 6.18| 16,435 | 360 | 47.83 | 33,000
21017 | 81.52 | 12.18| 6.3 | 21,848 | 720 | 7.13 | 16,280
21018 | 69.48 | 23.78| 6.74| 23,082 | 810 | 5.21 | 38,172
21019 | 96.5 | 3.04| .46| 1,080 | .... | 88.53 | 44,000
21020 | 96.4 | 2.82| .78| 1,260 | .... | 91.82 | 44,000
21021 | 94.4 | 5.04| .56| 1,620 | .... | 90.15 | 72,600
21022 | 24.5 | 70.96| 4.54| 21,070 | 4,950 | 6.34 | 12,540
21023 | 94.14 | 1.8 | 4.06| 3,780 | .... | 73.43 | 234
21024 | 94.58 | 3.44| 1.98| 3,060 | .... | 51.78 | 5,500
21031 | 87.72 | 11.02| 1.26| 4,140 | 90 | 81.14 | 143,000
21032 | 90.56 | 8.08| 1.36| 3,420 | .... | 76.29 | 33,000
21033 | 89.04 | 10.5 | .46| 1,260 | 90 | 84.7 | 6,673
21035 | 72.36 | 27.1 | .54| 270 | .... | 64.58 | 13,516
----------+-------+------+-----+--------+---------+-------+--------

Bearing also upon the adulterations, impurities and defectives found in alfalfa seed sold in the markets, extracts from reports of tests made at the Wooster, Ohio station (Bul. No. 142) are exceedingly interesting. In fifteen samples bought, each of one dollar’s worth, the quantity of pure germinable seed was found to range from 5.1 to 9.3 pounds; the number of noxious seeds found in a dollar’s worth of that bought as alfalfa seed ranged from 360 to 185,940. Seven of the fifteen one-dollar samples each carried more than 23,000 noxious seeds.

Seed bought at $7.80 per bushel showed as low as 61.2 per cent that was germinable, of which the _actual_ cost was $12.74 per bushel. None of the fifteen samples had less than 77 per cent of germinable seed. One pound sample contained 21,728 noxious seeds, of which 18,144 were lamb’s-quarter or pigweeds; the same pound also had 3126 seeds of dodder. Another pound carried 6420 seeds of crab grass, and one had 3325 seeds of foxtail.

The station authorities recommend that no alfalfa seed be sown until carefully screened through a screen fine enough to remove dodder seeds. Wire sieves or screens with twenty meshes to the inch are found to serve the purpose.

ADULTERANTS DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED

As a further and more thorough discussion of the frequent adulterants, Prof. H. F. Roberts, botanist of the Kansas experiment station, has kindly prepared, with illustrations, for this volume the quoted statements which follow here:

“The immense and steadily increasing value of alfalfa as a forage crop in the United States, and the high price of the seed, make the securing of sound, pure seed a matter of supreme importance to farmers, and render it equally important for them to be able to recognize, by sight, the presence in alfalfa seed of the adulterants and seeds of certain weeds most commonly known to occur. There is conclusive evidence that an amount of adulteration and substitution is actually practiced with alfalfa seed. It is usually charged that this is done abroad, especially, as is alleged, in Germany.

“The writer has been informed that, to a limited extent, the practice exists in America. The chief adulterant used is the seed of the Yellow trefoil, or, as it is sometimes called, Hop clover or Black medick. (See illustrations opposite pages 26 and 32.) About fifty species of plants are known as ‘medicks’ or, scientifically, _Medicago_; but it so happens that the only perennial species among them is alfalfa, which goes under the botanical name of _Medicago sativa_, (p. 1). Other species such as Yellow trefoil (_Medicago lupulina_) (p. 38) and Bur clover (_Medicago denticulata_,) while they possess some forage value and are useful to a limited extent, lack, for the most part, the lush, abundant growth of alfalfa itself, and are notably inferior through the fact of their annual habit. It is because of its perennial nature, therefore, as well as on account of its rank, succulent growth, that no species of annual leguminous plant can hope to compete with alfalfa for a moment in importance. This means, then, that any substitute for alfalfa seed, or adulteration of it with the seed of another related species, such as Yellow trefoil or Bur clover, is distinctly a fraud of serious character, despite the fact that the adulterants are plants that make fair pasturage and have some forage value. They are merely annuals, ending their life with the season, whereas a field of alfalfa should live twenty years or more, under right conditions.

THE CHIEF ADULTERANT

“At present, as stated, Yellow trefoil is the chief adulterant used in American alfalfa seed. A number of cases, indeed, of complete or almost complete substitution of Yellow trefoil for alfalfa seed have come to the writer’s attention within the past year. It is important, therefore, for farmers to know the characteristic marks of distinction between the seed of alfalfa and of its chief adulterants. What are the chief characteristics of alfalfa seed? Facing page 13 are samples of pure alfalfa seed, photographed under a magnification of five diameters. It will be noted that seeds of three general types exist: (1) A kidney-shaped type, marked ‘a’ in the illustration; (2) a type in which one end terminates in an acute wedge, marked ‘e’; and (3) a type that is round or nearly so, marked ‘b’. These types clearly illustrated, arranged for comparison in parallel rows are shown opposite page 44. See also page 27. It should be noticed that type 2 is the most characteristic and frequent, and that the perfectly round type is extremely rare. This angular slant toward one tip of the seed is found nowhere among any of the adulterants. Neither does the kidney shape of seed occur, except in Bur clover; and, in that case, the difference in the size of the seeds of the two species is sufficient to distinguish them, in most instances.

“It is when we consider the round or roundish type of alfalfa seed that there is difficulty in distinguishing from alfalfa the seeds of Yellow trefoil and of Sweet clover (illus. opp. p. 26), which latter frequently occurs as a weed seed, and possibly in some cases in sufficient quantity to be suspected as an adulterant. By comparison of the seeds of alfalfa with the two adulterants just mentioned, (p. 26) the resemblances and differences of the three species will become evident. In general the seeds of Yellow trefoil are shorter and rounder than those of alfalfa, the largest seeds of trefoil measuring 0.0629 inch wide by 0.0897 inch long; whereas the largest alfalfa seeds measure 0.0653 inch wide by 0.1153 inch long; so that the largest alfalfa seeds are a trifle wider and more than a third again as long as the largest trefoil seeds. The smallest seeds of Yellow trefoil are usually plumper and shorter than those of alfalfa (0.0511 inch wide by 0.0291 inch long, as compared with 0.0496 inch wide by 0.0751 inch long in alfalfa); nevertheless, among both the small and the large seeds, so far as the criterion of size goes, individuals occur that equally well belong to either species, and the average differences in size are not so great as the differences found on comparing the largest and the smallest seeds of the two species, the average for the trefoil being 0.0574 inch by 0.0799 inch, and for alfalfa 0.0582 inch by 0.0944 inch. So it will be seen at once that while trefoil seeds as a rule are smaller, shorter and rounder than those of alfalfa, the rule is transgressed by many individuals. We must, therefore, turn to the form and general outline of the seed. A farmer can detect at once an attempt to substitute wholly Yellow trefoil for alfalfa seed by the fact that _in no case will the kidney-shaped or the regular-pointed types of seed be found in trefoil, whereas these always occur in alfalfa_. (Illustrated opp p. 26.)

“In the more common cases, where adulteration rather than complete substitution is practiced, detection is more difficult--is practically impossible, in fact, without the aid of a lens or magnifying glass having a power of about fifteen diameters. There are many seeds of trefoil which can scarcely be distinguished from certain rounded seeds of alfalfa. Generally, however, the trefoil seed has a little projection or “beak” on the middle line of the seed, just back of the scar marking where the seed was attached to the pod. This is rarely found in alfalfa.

“Bur clover as an adulterant is probably not so frequently used as Yellow trefoil, since the larger size of its seed renders detection easy. Were it not for this fact, Bur clover would be a most effective adulterant, because its seeds resemble those of alfalfa more closely than do those of Yellow trefoil. There are, of course, smaller seeds of Bur clover and larger seeds of alfalfa that approximate each other in size, but the average Bur clover seeds measure 0.0604 inch by 0.1188 inch, as compared with an average for alfalfa of only 0.0582 inch by 0.0944 inch.

“So far as the plants of Yellow trefoil and Bur clover are concerned, they are easily distinguishable from alfalfa. Both are of lower growth, as a rule, than alfalfa. Both have wider leaflets, which, in Bur clover, are like broad, inverted wedges. The flowers of these plants are yellow, and are borne in scanty clusters. The pods are wholly unlike those of alfalfa. Alfalfa has a spiral pod of two or three turns (p. 32), containing as many as five or six seeds. Yellow trefoil has a straight pod (p. 32), containing but one seed. Bur clover has a coiled pod (p. 33), but covered with bristly projections that give the plant its name. Where adulteration or substitution is practiced, some of the pods are very apt to occur in the bulk seed, and they can then easily be identified and distinguished from those of alfalfa.

“Seed of Sweet clover seems to occur frequently in western-grown alfalfa seed (p. 26). Sweet clover (illustrated in this book) grows to a height frequently of from four to six feet, bearing small, white flowers on slender spikes three or four inches long. Unfortunately, and unlike Yellow trefoil and Bur clover, Sweet clover is generally rejected by stock. On this account, it is a plant of no generally established value for hay or as pasture, although, in some instances, it is successfully used. The seeds of Sweet clover are of a golden yellow when ripe; those of alfalfa, trefoil and Bur clover being greenish yellow. The seed coat of Sweet clover seed is covered with minute elevations, while alfalfa seed is smooth. The seeds of Sweet clover (p. 26) are rounder and plumper than those of alfalfa, and have a very pronounced groove between the main body of the seed and the ridge which marks the location of the rootlet of the young plant within. It is this ridge that in alfalfa seeds runs off, as a rule, in a marked slant, but which in both trefoil and Sweet clover, especially in the latter, forms a well-rounded curve to the tip of the seed. No pointed or kidney-shaped seeds are ever seen in Sweet clover. (See illus. opp. p. 26.)

A COMMON WEED IN IMPORTED ALFALFA SEED

“It remains to mention the most common weed found in imported alfalfa seed--the English or Ribbed plantain, or, as it is more generally called in the West, Buck-horn or Rib grass. It is a difficult weed to eradicate, lots of seed containing any noticeable percentage of it should be rejected. (See illus. opp. p. 13.)

“The farmer is often to blame for the poor seed of which he makes complaint. Prime alfalfa seed is expensive, and a cheap grade will inevitably be poor in quality, containing much dead seed, rubbish, and the seeds of many kinds of weeds. Where ‘cheap’ alfalfa seed is demanded it will always be sold, and buyers need not be surprised by its quality. On the other hand, there is no excuse or palliation for the offense of selling, under the name and at the price of standard alfalfa seed, seed of substituted species. It is the duty of seed dealers to ascertain beforehand the character and genuineness of seed that they sell under any given name, and this applies to the retailers as well as to the wholesale dealers. On the other hand, farmers cannot expect to obtain the best seed unless they are willing to pay the price it brings.”

DODDER SEED

Dodder seeds are somewhat smaller than alfalfa seeds (pp. 45 and 47), but are not separated from them except by careful recleaning; consequently, they are often sown along with the alfalfa seed, especially in that which has been imported. If a field is badly infested, it should be plowed up and devoted to some other crop for a few years. Prof. F. H. Hillman of Nevada (Bul. No. 47) says there are several kinds that infest alfalfa, but two kinds are especially common and destructive in this country. _Cuscuta epithymum_ is the commoner. “The seeds of this (p. 47) are very small, and are almost sure to escape detection on casual examination of the samples; yet, once recognized under the lens, their presence may be easily discovered. They are so much smaller than alfalfa seeds that the use of a sieve of twenty meshes per inch separates them from the latter when only free dodder seeds are present. Not only are various other small weed seeds disposed of in the process, but little if any alfalfa seed worth buying is lost. The few ripened flowers of dodder retaining matured seeds, which sometimes pass the thresher uninjured, may be removed by proper fanning. It is safe to say that no purchaser of alfalfa seed can afford to neglect sifting his seed carefully with a twenty-mesh sieve, which is the mesh the writer recommends for the separation of this kind of dodder from alfalfa seed.

“_Cuscuta arvensis_ is another dodder as destructive when once established. Its seeds (p. 47) seem to be less common, however. They are larger than the preceding, many of them being practically the same size as the smaller, more rounded alfalfa seeds, which they often strikingly resemble. Thus they are hard to detect, and cannot be removed without the loss of much small alfalfa seed. This should be the more dreaded of the two dodders, because alfalfa seed infested with seeds of _Cuscuta epithymum_ can be made practically free from them with comparatively little loss and expense. Not so, however, with seed containing _Cuscuta arvensis_, which should not be purchased at any price. Dodder seeds can scarcely be regarded as an adulterant, yet as an impurity they are very common and most objectionable.” (See illustrations opp. pp. 45, 46 and 47.)

_CHAPTER V._

Soil and Seeding

VARIATE, YET UNIFORM

In this double title we have a case of the widest variations and the most positive and rigid uniformity. Alfalfa may be grown in almost every possible kind of soil and under almost all soil conditions (save two), but omitting these the seeding, including the tilth of the ground, is based, so far as any future success is concerned, on perfect cultivation. The dictum, “Alfalfa must have a dry, warm, sandy loam, very rich” has become obsolete, as already pointed out.

There are just two soil conditions that seem absolutely against the growth of alfalfa. The first is a soil constantly wet. The common remark, “Alfalfa will not stand ‘wet feet’,” seems to be the expression of a law. It does not do well where the water is nearer to the surface than six feet, or where in winter water will stand on the ground for over forty-eight hours. This invariably smothers the plants; in fact it usually kills any crop. If water flows over the field for some such time, due to a freshet, the alfalfa is often found uninjured if too much soil has not been deposited on and around the plants. Even in such instances fields have been saved by a disking once or twice, but it is wholly unwise to sow on a field subject to overflow, or one where water rises to the surface in winter or spring; likewise on a field so flat that water will not run off in time of a heavy rain or promptly drain out through the sub-surface. The time is rapidly coming everywhere when the intelligent farmer will not try to raise any crop on such a field, undrained. The alfalfa roots will find their way to moisture if given the right surface conditions. There are profitable alfalfa meadows in parts of Kansas where it is eighty feet to water, but there has not yet been found one that is prosperous where water comes close to the surface, or where it stands on the ground in winter.

The right-hand column, kidney-shaped, a characteristic form, but not so common as the type in the central column. The left-hand column approaches more nearly the rounded type of Sweet clover. Magnification five diameters]

The other kind of soil where alfalfa refuses to grow is that in which there is too much acidity. This is often the case where corn and wheat have been raised for many years, thus robbing the soil of much lime; a condition that may be remedied by an application of lime to the land just before sowing the alfalfa, harrowing it in beforehand or, if the seed is to be broadcasted, the lime may be applied just before sowing, when once harrowing will suffice for both, or it may be sown with a drill--500 to 1000 pounds per acre.

A simple test for acidity is to make a deep cut in the ground with a knife, pressing the earth slightly apart; then push a piece of litmus paper into the opening and press the earth together. Leave the paper there for a few hours. If upon examination the litmus paper has a pink appearance it is proof of acidity, and this, as already said, may best be remedied with lime.

SOIL PREPARATION

With the only two negative points considered, the more important conditions upon which success will depend may be discussed. One chief essential is the advance preparation. Many of the most successful growers begin their preparations two or three years before they sow the seed. There must be, by rights, the most perfect physical condition of the soil. It should have been plowed deep for at least two years, and in most fields in the central and northern states a two- or three-inch subsoiling along with a seven- or eight-inch plowing will be very helpful.

If corn is to precede a spring sowing, the ground should have a liberal dressing of stable manure plowed under for humus, to encourage earthworms and to introduce the particular bacteria so essential to alfalfa’s welfare or at least furnish favorable conditions for bacteria, and the harrow should follow the plow each day. The soil’s condition should be like that for a garden. Care should be taken never to work with the ground when too wet, as such working almost inevitably results in clods and baked soil. The corn should be cultivated often, and a liberal sowing of cowpeas just before the last cultivation, which should be shallow, has been found quite helpful. This crop will repress and take the place of weeds, furnish a rich food for fattening pigs or lambs after the corn is cut, add fertility to the soil, and also introduce bacteria similar to the bacteria for the alfalfa. The cowpea, being a legume, prepares the way for alfalfa, its near relative.

(a) A group of seeds (enlarged), showing the prevailing forms; (a, b, and c) individual seeds having somewhat the form of clover seeds; (d) a group showing the natural size]

(a) A group of seeds showing comparative forms and relative size (enlarged); (b) a group showing the natural size; (c) the embryo removed from the seed, showing the form it usually assumes; (d) a section of a seed, showing the manner in which the embryo lies imbedded in the endosperm]

KEEP DOWN THE WEEDS

It is always timely to emphasize the very great importance of keeping down weeds in the cornfield where alfalfa is to be sowed the next spring. If corn is husked from the fields, the stalks should not be pastured except when the ground is fully frozen. Later they should be thoroughly broken, raked and burned, to leave the land in the best condition for spring work. If the corn is cut and fodder hauled off, the stubs should be broken in cold weather by a pole or other drag, and raked and burned as recommended for the stalks. This adapts the ground for disking and harrowing early in March. Then every ten days the field should be disked or harrowed to conserve moisture, to start weeds and then kill them, and to bring the ground into the desirable tilth. Ordinarily, in the central states, sowing may be done early in April, while in the South this may be done by the middle of March, and in Wisconsin and Canada by the last of April or early May, although the dates are variable. Many report seeding in Kansas the middle of May, obtaining a clipping in July and a hay crop in September. Others report sowing in March and cutting a hay crop in June. Some Wisconsin reports say that the first of June is early enough, while others in that state and in Minnesota prefer to sow two or three weeks earlier, and still others in Wisconsin sow in April. The important things to keep in mind are to have the soil right and the weeds disposed of, and to sow when the weather and moisture and conditions are right. Alfalfa is a child of the sun; permanent shade from any source is its enemy, and when young it is not a good fighter against adversaries of any sort. More failures are due to weeds than to any other one cause, and unfortunately all the weeds do not grow on the land of the farmer who is shiftless or neglectful. The latter is so benevolent as to permit his weeds to scatter their seeds to the fields of his neighbors.

If a spring sowing is to be made on wheat ground, the land will be helped by a liberal dressing of manure immediately after the harvest, and by plowing and harrowing at once; then sowing about the last of August to rye or wheat for fall and winter pasturage, and to prevent the soil from leaching or washing. In the spring the land should be disked and harrowed for alfalfa, keeping in mind the point emphasized in the preceding paragraph. Instead of the rye or wheat, cowpeas may be sowed after the wheat harvest; thus both fertility and bacteria will be added to the soil, and the farmer have a valuable pasture crop for pigs or lambs. If the season is extremely favorable, a hay crop may be cut in early October.

If potatoes are to precede a spring sowing of alfalfa, more than usual care should be taken to keep the field clean of weeds. Some farmers do well by sowing millet with the last cultivation of potatoes, leaving the potatoes in the ground until after the millet is harvested, and when the crop is dug the land is free from weeds. Then it may be harrowed or disked and seeded to rye for winter pasture. Some plow the potato ground in the fall and sow to wheat or rye. Certainly if weeds are present the ground should be plowed as soon as the potatoes are dug. The idea is to secure a fine seed bed and have the ground free from weeds, the great curse of the American farm. All things considered there is probably no crop which leaves the soil in finer physical condition for alfalfa-sowing than millet, and none that is more unsatisfactory for a like purpose than sorghum or Kafir corn that was planted in hills or rows.

A clover sod for a spring sowing should be plowed in September or October, disked or harrowed, and not infrequently a light sowing of rye for winter pasture is feasible. In early spring use disk and tooth harrows on the land. It is excellent if a liberal application of rotted stable manure is plowed under with the clover sod. Usually it is better to follow clover with a corn or potato crop before seeding to alfalfa.

FALL SOWING

Fall sowing presents fewer difficulties than spring sowing. Corn is not the preceding crop and hence the weed problem is not so formidable. Usually a fall sowing follows millet or oats, cowpeas or potatoes. Almost any crop except the sorghums may be grown to precede alfalfa for a fall sowing; these should not be as they consume too much moisture. If possible, put on a dressing of stable manure the preceding winter; plow deep in the spring and work to a fine tilth for the summer crop. South of the latitude of 40 degrees cowpeas is one of the best preparatory crops. They are legumes, and the bacteria that live on their roots are similar to those upon the alfalfa roots; they are also nitrogen-gatherers, taking nitrogen from the air as does the alfalfa, and thus they prepare the soil for alfalfa. Besides, cowpeas are a valuable forage, the hay being worth almost as much, pound for pound, as that of alfalfa. When cut off they leave the ground ready for disking and other preparation. Millet is also excellent for this purpose, leaving the soil unusually friable. Potatoes make a satisfactory preparatory crop, but the danger from them too often is neglect to keep the weeds down. As soon as the land is free, it should be disked and harrowed, and this repeated about every ten days until the time for sowing.

RECENT PLOWING NOT DESIRABLE

It is seen that plowing for alfalfa just preceding the seeding is not recommended. Plowing leaves the sub-surface too loose, thus depriving the roots of a sufficiently firm footing and making a full sowing more liable to harm from freezing and thawing, and the spring sowing to harm from a dry summer. The necessity of the most perfect surface conditions cannot be to often emphasized, and this too includes considerable compactness rather than a too light or ashy condition. There must be no clods, no stiff and stubborn humps.

If alfalfa is to follow clover, and to be seeded in the fall, the sod should be broken early after the clover is harvested and each day’s plowing harrowed that day; then the field disked and cross-disked and harrowed again. After that it should be disked, lapping half, every ten or fifteen days until time for seeding. Alfalfa may follow timothy if the sod is not too old and stubborn, and it may be treated the same as clover sod.

INTRODUCE BACTERIA BY PREPARATORY SOWING

Another form of preparation followed by many successful growers, men who do not complain about alfalfa not doing well “here,” is the sowing of a few pounds of alfalfa seed on the field two or three years before it is intended to sow for a permanent crop. Mr. Joseph E. Wing, of central western Ohio, a widely known farmer, stockman, and writer on matters agricultural, uses alfalfa in a regular rotation, and two years before he is ready to sow it on a given field as a main crop, sows clover and timothy along with two or three pounds of alfalfa seed, for a pasture crop. Thus the bacteria are introduced, and when the pasture is plowed for the full sowing of alfalfa, the disking and harrowing that follow distribute the bacteria throughout the soil, and the probabilities of a good stand are greatly enhanced. He sometimes sows two or three pounds of alfalfa seed to the acre with a wheat crop two years before he is to sow the field entirely to alfalfa. Another, in a state where the experiment station director still declares alfalfa-raising to be doubtful, writes that he has not had a failure in a decade, and his plan is to precede alfalfa with winter wheat, sowing a little alfalfa seed with the wheat, probably three pounds to the acre, and the next fall after giving the land a thorough preparation he sows fifteen pounds of alfalfa seed to the acre. Another reports pleasing results in two different fields by sowing in the spring five pounds of alfalfa seed with clover; in two years the alfalfa stood thick on the ground, having crowded out the clover. If these plans introduce the bacteria into the soil, it may be wondered why it would not be equally helpful to sow two or three pounds of alfalfa seed per acre with the oats or millet in the spring, preparatory to the thorough seeding to alfalfa in the fall.

Another man, whose profit in raising alfalfa has been marked, reports that his soil is very waxy and hard to deal with. He has met this trouble by listing his ground in the fall and leaving it thus open for hard freezing throughout the winter. He then disks and cross-disks in the spring, putting the soil in fine tilth, and sowing millet as a preparatory crop. He has occasionally sowed alfalfa in the spring, following the fall listing and later freezing of his ground.

ALL CROPS DEMAND CONDITIONS

Alfalfa, like corn and cotton, demands certain conditions of the soil and certain constituents in that soil. Every crop demands its certain foods. All crops except alfalfa and the other legumes obtain practically all their food, including nitrogen, from the soil. The latter crops use nitrogen but get it from the air. Alfalfa takes nitrogen from the soil only during the first few months of its growth, and thereafter not only takes its own necessary supply from the air, but a large surplus which it stores in the soil, available for whatever crop may follow. Other crops take much nitrogen from the soil, but contribute nothing to its enrichment.

SPRING OR FALL SOWING--WHICH?

This has been a much argued question with experimenters. Possibly it will be found to be of minor importance in itself, depending more upon other conditions than the season. From the northern tier of states many reports favor spring sowing, yet from each come letters in favor of fall sowing. Several experiment stations in the South are in favor of spring sowing, yet report satisfactory results from fall seeding. It seems pretty well established, however, that fall sowing is safer in the central latitude states, say including Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Utah, and states within the same parallels.

In other states prevailing opinions favor spring sowing. Nevertheless, when all conditions are understood, fall sowing seems likely to become the established practice throughout the United States. This is in line with the system for the more staple crops and common rotation; it gives opportunity to bring the ground into better condition; the preparation and sowing come at the most convenient season, and one of relatively greater leisure; there is less interruption by unfavorable weather; the soil, responding more readily to surface cultivation, permits the work to be done with less danger of surface water retarding normal root development, and the annual weeds being dead they cannot interfere with the first growth of the alfalfa. Sown in the fall, with time to secure some growth for winter protection, alfalfa will be ready to respond to the first call of spring, and for the mower early in June. Moreover, if it fails from freezing or other cause, little crop-time is lost. The farmer has but to disk and harrow in April or early May, and sow half as much seed as he sowed in the fall, and he will have prospect of a cutting in eighty or ninety days, at an expenditure of but few pounds of seed and a little labor.

DISADVANTAGES OF SPRING SOWING

Ordinarily, if a farmer sows in the spring, he has his old enemy, the weeds, to contend with. If the season be damp and cloudy, the alfalfa may not grow fast, but weeds will. Therefore, June may see him mowing to retard a rampant growth of weeds instead of gathering a profitable cutting of prime hay. It is not improbable that he may be doing the same in July or in September, thus losing a whole season. Again, the spring preparation comes when the farmer needs to be working his corn and potato land; hence he is likely to slight or neglect the careful preparation of the alfalfa ground and so do a poor job, with, in such cases, the usual result of a “poor stand.” Then too, the frequent rains interfere with regular disking and harrowing and the weeds may obtain a start the farmer cannot check. In most cases fall sowing means three cuttings the following year. In many instances spring sowing means no crop the first season, although better farming will gain a September crop, while the best farming, with no weeds, may give two if not three crops; not heavy ones, perhaps, but of no inconsiderable value.

Commenting on spring sowing in the more northern states, Henry Wallace, editor of _Wallaces’ Farmer_, says:

“Our own experience in growing alfalfa both in Nebraska and Iowa has taught us that it is a waste of time and labor to sow in the spring. If sown in the spring without a nurse crop, it will have to be mowed twice, probably three times, to keep down the weeds, and even then it will not be in as good condition as if a crop of early corn or even oats was taken off, and the ground put in fine condition and seeded in August.

“In 1904 we sowed in the spring 250 acres of alfalfa on our Nebraska farm, and some twenty or thirty acres of it was washed in ridges by a very heavy rain immediately after. We reseeded the vacant spaces in the fall and later could see no difference between the fall sowing and the spring sowing. We did the same thing on one of our Iowa farms, sowing in the spring and mowing three times. Another piece was sowed in August. The August sowing was much better than the spring sowing. It should be said, however, that the land was richer and the difference was therefore not all due to the time of sowing. So long as Kansas farmers continued to sow their alfalfa in the spring they had but partial success, owing to the fact that Crab grass and other grasses will come up in the early fall and smother out the spring sowing. By using some other crop the first part of the season, then putting the land in fine condition in the month of August or even by September 1st, an alfalfa crop can be started which will have a strong enough growth to smother out the weeds the next spring.

“We don’t know that we would insist on this so strongly for northern Iowa and Minnesota, but certainly from the latitude of the Northwestern railroad in Iowa, south, and corresponding latitude in other states, we would abandon spring sowing and sow alfalfa on well prepared ground in August. We would not, however, plow the ground for this fall sowing, but put the soil in first-class condition for a spring crop, then use a disk and harrow for the fall preparation.”

SEEDING BY DRILL OR BROADCAST?

Here too, there is a variety of opinions, all based on experience. Those who object most to drills may have used poor implements, with feeding gears not well regulated, or possibly they have not known how to use the drills. Many who object to the broadcast method have had little training or skill in it. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that given soil in fine tilth, and a good drill rightly adjusted, there will be a more even, and hence a more economical distribution and a better and more uniform covering of the seed. It is also claimed that drilling secures a more uniform distribution of soil moisture. The general opinion is that by sowing with a drill, properly regulated, one can safely use five pounds less of seed per acre. Some alfalfa raisers use a wheelbarrow seeder; others use a kind of swing seeder strapped to the sower’s body; still others, who have had training in the old-fashioned method of broadcasting, declare it the best, but the experiment stations of practically all the states, and most up-to-date farmers, favor the use of the press drill. There are now on the market different types of alfalfa seeders which can be attached or are already attached to the ordinary grain drill, and that will distribute the seed in any desired quantities per acre with broadcast effect or leave it in drill rows as may be preferred. At the Kansas Experiment Station success has followed broadcasting, and cross-drilling gave no particular advantage.

HOW MUCH SEED TO THE ACRE?

Reports of seed sown, varying from six to sixty pounds to the acre, indicate much ignorance of the nature of the alfalfa plant; or a great recklessness and extravagance. Twenty pounds to the acre, if all seeds germinated, would mean 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 plants, whereas a stand of 500,000 is ample. Most of the experiment stations favor twenty to thirty pounds to the acre, although several experts at these stations insist that fifteen pounds of clean, germinable seed to the acre is as much as should be sowed. Even if these all grew it would give nearly 44 plants to the foot square of land, or four to five times as many as would thrive after two years old. Of course the quantity may depend upon a variety of circumstances, such as the vitality of the seed, condition of the surface soil, condition of the subsoil as to moisture, the method of sowing, weather conditions at the time of sowing or immediately after, also the natural fertility of the soil and the bacterial life present, or at least the conditions for propagating or sustaining bacterial life. With land prepared by sowing a few pounds of seed six months or a year preceding, with a heavy application of stable manure plowed under six months before, perfect soil preparation, normal moisture, and clean seed, testing ninety per cent germinable, there should be no need for more than ten pounds to the acre. Disking that the field should have later will split the crowns and many new stalks will be sent up; so that in a few years a square foot of surface will not accommodate more than six to ten robust, vigorous plants, and having these the ideal stand has pretty nearly been attained. One plant has been known to send out as many as 360 branches from its single main root, resembling in form a spreading bush. A successful farmer in Geary county, Kansas, who has been raising alfalfa for twenty years, seldom sows more than six pounds of seed to the acre and never more than ten. A prominent Ohio farmer usually sows but ten, and never over twelve or fifteen pounds to the acre, although he has always introduced alfalfa bacteria into the soil one or two years before ready to give it a full seeding. Of strictly good seed, well cleaned, twelve pounds would likely be too much rather than too little, other conditions being right.

WITH OR WITHOUT A NURSE CROP?

The practice of sowing a nurse crop with alfalfa was inaugurated when the nature of the plant was not as well understood as now. It was also somewhat on the theory too that “a half-loaf is better than no bread.” It began when there was a good deal of doubt about “getting a stand,” and the farmer thought no doubt that a crop of oats or barley would pay for the plowing even if the alfalfa failed. While the practice is continued by many, the prevalent later method is to provide no nurse crop. Few who have abandoned the nurse crop have returned to it. The alfalfa plant does not need protection from the sun, nor is it bettered by dividing any of the soil moisture or fertility with those of another crop. On the other hand, if alfalfa is sowed in the spring, it is important that it obtain an early start in order that its roots can quickly work their way down into the moisture of the subsoil, against the dry days of July and August. When a nurse crop of any vigor is removed the alfalfa plants are likely to be found weak, spindling and with little root growth; the nurse crop also has taken up some of the soil nitrogen needed by the young alfalfa; or if the nurse crop is heavy and has lodged, there will be left bare spots, where the alfalfa has been smothered out.

Cutting the nurse crop is likely to be attended with no little damage to the tender alfalfa plants by trampling their crowns into the ground, or by breaking them off. Practically all the experiment stations favor sowing alone. With few exceptions the second and third years have brought heavier yields where no nurse crop was used. The theory that the nurse crop will prevent the weeds choking the alfalfa is apparently, as a rule, not well founded. In the first place alfalfa should not be sown on foul land, and in the second place proper disking and harrowing, at near intervals for four or six weeks before sowing, will disturb or kill far more weeds than can any nurse crop. Besides, the oats or barley sown as a nurse will when cut leave weeds in good growth, or dormant and ready to spring up as fast or faster than the alfalfa. No nurse crop is ever used with fall sowing. When ground has been thoroughly prepared for the preceding crop, and then properly cared for, and made ready for the alfalfa by the preliminary weed destruction, it will be found advisable to sow alfalfa alone, even in the spring.

INOCULATING THE SOIL