the South the interval for
fallowing the land may be sufficiently long after the harvesting of an
early winter grain crop, before sowing the seed in the autumn. (See page
136.)

When sowing the seed autumn or spring, on land that is filled with weed
seeds near the surface, it is frequently better to defer sowing the seed
for some weeks to give time for sprouting many of these than to sow at
once. This suggestion is specially applicable to spring sowing. It
should also be mentioned that when the weeds infesting the soil are
annual or even biennial in character, the harm done to the alfalfa by
these will be much less than when the land is infested with perennials
at the time of sowing. The former may be prevented from seeding by
clipping back frequently, while the latter remain in the soil, increase
from year to year, and injure the plants by crowding. Where crab grass
grows abundantly, as in some parts of the South, unless the alfalfa is
sown and cultivated, spring sowing ought to be avoided. But it is less
objectionable to sow alfalfa on land that is weedy when the adaptation
of the land for the crop is high than when it is low, as the alfalfa in
the former instance has so much more power to fight its own battle. On
good alfalfa soils, therefore, it may be wiser in some instances to sow
alfalfa in weed-infested land than to defer sowing for a whole year in
order to clean the land.

It is greatly important that the land shall be rich in available plant
food on which the seed is sown. If naturally poor, it should be well
fertilized before sowing. When this cannot be done, it is better not to
sow. A vast preponderance of the land in the Rocky Mountain region, when
first broken, would seem to possess abundantly all the essential foods
required by alfalfa; hence, for a time, at least, it is not necessary to
enrich these before sowing the seed. The sandy and hungry gravelly
soils, which are considerable in the South, in the Atlantic States, and
in some of the Central and Northern States, should be fertilized before
laying them down to alfalfa. Such fertilization usually calls for both
humus and readily available plant food, and these are most cheaply
supplied by growing certain green crops and plowing them under, or by
applying farmyard manure. These may be supplemented when necessary by
commercial fertilizers. Some precede alfalfa on such soils by growing
cow peas or soy beans, followed by crimson clover, both crops being