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.