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Climate And Soil

Categories: ALFALFA

The experimentation with alfalfa by farmers has been

wide-spread, and the percentage of failure has been so large that many

have believed this legume was unfitted to the climate and soil of the

country east of the Missouri River. Successful experience has shown

that it can be made to take a considerable place in eastern

crop-schemes. The climate is not unfavorable, as is evidenced by large

areas of good alfalfa sods on
thousands of farms. The abundant rainfall

brings various weeds and grasses into competition with it, and that

will remain a serious drawback until growers learn to clean their

surface soils by good tillage before seeding.



Any land that is sufficiently well drained to produce a good corn crop

in a wet summer can grow alfalfa if the seed-bed is rightly made. The

loose soils are more difficult to seed successfully than is the land

having enough clay to give itself body, although most experimenters

select their most porous soils. All farms having good tilth can bring

alfalfa into their crop-rotations.



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