Fall Sowing Of Alfalfa

Categories: Grains and Forage Crops

We have summer-fallowed land which we know will grow good alfalfa, and

as we have just had four inches of rainfall upon it, we were wondering

if we could not plow the twenty acres and get a stand upon it in time to

stand the cold weather this winter. Do you think this is practicable?



If four inches of rain on summer fallow connects well with the lower

moisture which a good summer fallow ought to conserve in the soil, uch

sowing is rational; but if the summer fallowing was not done well, that

is, if it was rough plowing without enough harrowing, as is too often

the case, the four inches of rain might not be safe because of the dry

ground beneath waiting to seize the moisture and so dry the surface that

sprouting alfalfa plants would perish between dry soil below and dry

wind above. Fall sowing will give enough growth to resist frost killing

in many places in the valley if the moisture in the soil is enough to

carry the plant as well as start it, or if showers come frequently -

otherwise it is dangerous, not from frost but from drouth.