## 3 Results
### Dry Matter Biomass
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Period**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Variety**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Sowing Patterns**} \\ \cline{3-8}  & & **O1** & **O2** & **S1** & **S2** & **M** \\ \hline \multicolumn{8}{c}{**Alfalfa DM (g m\({}^{-2}\))**} \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{June} & A & \(5.0\pm 2.5\) ab & \(6.1\pm 2.8\) ab & \(8.3\pm 6.0\) ab & \(5.4\pm 3.0\) ab & \(18.7\pm 5.2\) d \\  & W & \(17.0\pm 11.6\) cd & \(4.6\pm 3.0\) a & \(7.0\pm 3.9\) ab & \(9.0\pm 2.1\) abc & \(48.8\pm 9.4\) f \\  & L & \(18.9\pm 4.0\) d & \(14.8\pm 9.1\) bcd & \(14.4\pm 10.9\) abcd & \(13.4\pm 4.7\) abcd & \(35.8\pm 8.3\) e \\  & A & \(16.2\pm 6.5\) ab & \(20.6\pm 5.0\) abc & \(8.5\pm 5.9\) a & \(9.5\pm 3.6\) a & \(72.2\pm 34.9\) d \\  & W & \(39.0\pm 15.6\) bc & \(25.1\pm 14.1\) abc & \(20.5\pm 12.5\) abc & \(20.1\pm 9.0\) abc & \(150.4\pm 24.5\) e \\  & L & \(44.0\pm 17.0\) c & \(45.4\pm 15.2\) c & \(24.8\pm 13.5\) abc & \(21.3\pm 5.3\) abc & \(182.4\pm 22.1\) f \\  & A & \(28.5\pm 14.1\) abc & \(28.5\pm 9.0\) abc & \(14.4\pm 2.3\) a & \(5.0\pm 2.6\) a & \(54.4\pm 12.9\) bcd \\  & W & \(61.1\pm 15.9\) cd & \(33.0\pm 11.4\) abc & \(22.1\pm 15.2\) ab & \(25.1\pm 6.1\) ab & \(143.8\pm 33.5\) e \\  & L & \(78.1\pm 38.2\) d & \(68.6\pm 30.0\) d & \(23.7\pm 12.0\) ab & \(30.2\pm 14.0\) abc & \(244.8\pm 56.7\) f \\ \hline \multicolumn{8}{c}{**Total DM (g m\({}^{-2}\))**} \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{June} & A & \(95.7\pm 26.7\) cde & \(91.4\pm 20.1\) cde & \(124.5\pm 18.7\) bc & \(106.9\pm 48.0\) bcd & \(47.5\pm 13.6\) e \\  & W & \(94.6\pm 12.2\) cde & \(97.8\pm 52.8\) bc & \(184.4\pm 70.5\) a & \(152.6\pm 62.2\) ab & \(104.2\pm 24.7\) bcd \\  & L & \(93.7\pm 15.7\) cde & \(105.5\pm 10.8\) bcd & \(145.8\pm 28.7\) abc & \(147.8\pm 63.5\) abc & \(61.4\pm 15.9\) de \\  & A & \(408.3\pm 37.3\) a & \(27.1\pm 60.7\) cde & \(188.6\pm 61.0\) e & \(189.9\pm 46.2\) e & \(313.6\pm 80.8\) bcd \\  & W & \(375.2\pm 67.3\) ab & \(348.6\pm 161.1\) abc & \(189.4\pm 41.9\) e & \(212.2\pm 42.4\) e & \(310.4\pm 80.0\) bcd \\  & L & \(356.6\pm 48.9\) abc & \(425.6\pm 49.8\) a & \(323.5\pm 25.8\) e & \(198.7\pm 41.8\) e & \(222.4\pm 41.6\) de \\  & A & \(358.6\pm 51.4\) abc & \(39.97\pm 101.3\) a & \(382.7\pm 100.0\) a & \(313.4\pm 86.1\) abc & \(253.3\pm 66.9\) c \\  & W & \(351.2\pm 52.6\) abc & \(303.4\pm 104.5\) abc & \(267.5\pm 59.2\) bc & \(266.9\pm 25.1\) bc & \(313.4\pm 69.9\) abc \\  & L & \(369.9\pm 45.5\) ab & \(310.4\pm 50.9\) abc & \(302.7\pm 78.9\) abc & \(332.3\pm 98.2\) abc & \(331.0\pm 45.6\) abc \\ \hline \multicolumn{8}{c}{Note: data are the means\(\pm\)standard deviation. Within each period, the values followed by different letters are significantly different (\(p<0.05\)). A, algonquin; L, leafy king; W, WL354 HQ. S1 and S2 represent sudangrass at seeding rates of 45 and 60 kg ha\({}^{-1}\), respectively. O1 and O2 represent oat at seeding rates of 60 and 80 kg ha\({}^{-1}\), respectively. M means monoculture.} \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Alfalfa dry mass (DM) and the total DM of all treatments during the growing season. Figure 1: The percentage of DM among all treatments during the growing season (mean \(\pm\) SE). The three columns in each treatment represent the DM proportions of June, July and August, respectively. The abbreviations are the same as above.