Therefore, we answer that alfalfa does not die from foxtail, but
from some condition unfavorable to the alfalfa, which must be sought in
the soil, or in the moisture supply, or traced back to bad seed, and a
poor stand at the beginning.
Which Alfalfa is Best?
I have in Stanislaus county ten acres of Arabian alfalfa, which was sown
the first week in April this year. It was clipped in July and irrigated.
It is now about 14 inches high, but looks sickly, turns white at the
tips, and some dies down. There are several places here with the Arabian
alfalfa on them and with the same trouble, while the ordinary variety is
looking fine by the side of it.
Arabian alfalfa usually makes a good show at first and begins to run out
afterward. It does not seem to be so long-lived and satisfactory as the
common variety. With this prospect ahead of you, according to present
experience, it would seem to be desirable to plow the crop in and seed
again with the common variety, or with the Turkestan, which is proving
the most satisfactory of the recently introduced varieties.
Fall Sowing of Alfalfa.
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, such
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.
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