is
harrowed after it has been sown. Where the soil is sufficiently level,
this plan of preparing will prove satisfactory, more especially where
water can be put upon the land, but it will also succeed frequently in
the absence of irrigating waters. In some instances the disking and
sowing are both done by the same implement, which is driven both ways
across the field.

Alfalfa is sometimes sown, and with profit, on steep hill sides which
are inclined to wash. When set on these it tends to prevent the washing
of the land. In such situations it is better to sow with a nurse crop,
which will help to hold the soil until the alfalfa becomes rooted. Where
land is so loose as to blow and irrigation cannot be practiced, only as
much should be sown each season as can be covered with stable litter and
well-rotted straw drawn out at the proper season.

=Sowing.=--The best season for sowing alfalfa will depend upon such
conditions as relate to soil, moisture and climate. On rather stiff clay
soils, the other conditions being right, the most satisfactory results
are obtained from sowing the seed in the spring, and on land that has
been plowed in the autumn and exposed to the mellowing influences of
winter. But to this there may be some exceptions. On lands so light as
to lift with the wind, that season should be avoided in sowing, if
possible, when lifting winds prevail. Such winds are common in some
localities in the spring, and may uncover the seed in some places and
bury it too deeply in others.

Where moisture is deficient the seed must be sown at those times when it
is most plentiful. This may be in the autumn, but more commonly it is in
the quite early spring. In some of the mountain States the best results
have been obtained under semi-arid conditions from sowing the seed in
the late autumn, so that it would be ready for germination at the first
commencement of the period of growth in the spring. Under some
conditions the too dry character of the weather may preclude the sowing
of alfalfa in the summer and autumn months. Where moisture is plentiful
all the season of growth, alfalfa may be sown almost any time, except
the early spring or late autumn. Where irrigating waters are plentiful,
the only hindrances to sowing alfalfa at any season of the year are such
as may arise from climate. Far South in very mild areas it may be sown
almost any time.

Where the temperatures are low in winter, the best results are obtained
fr