Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-01-13
Farming in the n orth=w est
.MFALFA1N THE HEART OF The NORTHWEST
., FOURTH ARTICLE. *
BY j. G. Haney, Agricultural Extension Department
s.+., international Harvester CO.

However. we have noticed that al
falfa which does not. have tir.e be-
fore frost, to reach this stage, IS ap-
parently weakened much more BY the
winter than alfalfa which is sown
earlier. ... -
Spring. Summer r Fall Seeding.
There are. several conditions that
may be considered in determining
the time of seeding. If the soil has
received special preparation the year
previous, and. is reasonably free Of
weeds so that there would not be any
great danger Of the alfalfa being
Fchoked out. it might, be seeded alone
quite early in the spring, with the
expectation that a good crop Of hay
be secured the first year. However,
If the land has not received any spe-
cial preparation 1t would doubtless
be advisable to give this lane several
diskings and borrowings to destroy a
crop or. two of weeds before the al
falfa is seeded. With many. especial
~ in regions having a fairly good
rainfall. this is considered a very good
practice. Land which grew corr or
potatoes The year previous as a pre-
! paration for alfalfa will usually show
a good growth of weeds the year fol-
lowing. The land might be narrowed
as early as possible after the snow is
off. for the purpose Of terminating as
many weed seeds as possible. Then
as Don as they have sufficiently
started. the land should be double
disked and left for II day or so, and
then cross narrowed. This operation
should be repeated twice, or even
three times before the alfalfa seed is
sown. Seeding, however. should not
be delayed SO late that the soil will
be dried out too much from the
summer heat. and it is probable thar
be found the most satisfactory time
for seeding On land prepared by this
method.
Early Spring Seeding.
Where the land has received pre-
viGus preparation. and there would
not be any great danger of weeds,
early spring seeding has proven very
I satisfa Glory. Alfalfa may be seeded
as early as the small grains with
very little danger Of damage b,
frost. While it is very often contend
ed that a frost after the alfalfa has
just come Up may damage ito there
does not appear to be as much dan
ger from this as nay be supposed. We
have seeded alfalfa in the Dakotas as
early as April 25tK. and after it was
4 w 81 iSldL lac EUWS COulO De seen al
most across the field ice formed
more than half an inch thick; and
the soil was frozen to an even great
err depth. without any apparent dam
age to the alfalfa. often seed that il
shattered. of comes on the next wear
and does fine. In some sections
seed is sown late in the fall, dust be-
fore freezing. so that 1t Will be in
the ground and ready to terminate
as soon as warm enough. This has
proven a satisfactory practice in the
drier sections.
Early spring seeding has the ad.
Vantage Of getting such q start az I.
better hold its " with the weeds
and 10 certain to become well estab
1ished before winter.
We believe .that It ID OF special IL
vantage to seed early where a nuh
tcrop Is to be used, and We do na
hesitate toSseed the alfalfa al ear
IA 1t Ii possible to get on the grou,s
Elm thesprinG. AZ indicated, there
Eno fixed time at which It MAJ
said alfalfa should he seeded. but
Is probable that better results vi
be obtained bv either seeding early
before weeds have started, or give
1.-The land a treatment - ~ to kill out
ascfop or two OF weeds before seed.
ing. which would be either early
1spring, or late sprinG j summer
Nurse Crop and Il u SEEDING
folIowsl
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