. Alfalfa farming in America. Alfalfa. GROWING ALFALFA SEED. 461 eastern Colorado, and in the western portions of Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. Yields of seed at the rate of 5 bushels to the acre have been obtained. The possibilities of the method when only individual plants of large seeding capacity are used is indi- cated by the fact that plants removed 30 inches each way from other plants have given yields which if equalled by an acre of such plants at the same distance apart would rival the seed yield produced under the most favorable conditions in the present seed- growing sections.
. Alfalfa farming in America. Alfalfa. GROWING ALFALFA SEED. 461 eastern Colorado, and in the western portions of Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. Yields of seed at the rate of 5 bushels to the acre have been obtained. The possibilities of the method when only individual plants of large seeding capacity are used is indi- cated by the fact that plants removed 30 inches each way from other plants have given yields which if equalled by an acre of such plants at the same distance apart would rival the seed yield produced under the most favorable conditions in the present seed- growing sections. The method is a comparatively new one and should be tested on its own merits in each area or even in each community. Where reasonable doubt as to its success under given conditions of rain- fall exists, growers should at first devote only a small area, say 2 to 5 acres, to row cultivation, increasing the size of the field if the results justify it. Seed production under the best conditions is somewhat uncer- tain. The certainty of profitable yields of hay in most alfalfa- growing sections deters many farmers from letting their fields stand for seed. The light yield of hay procurable under ordi- nary conditions in the semi-arid regions makes the growing of seed a more promising undertaking than in sections where hay production is very profitable. It is probable that under very dry conditions the yield of hay in cultivated rows will also exceed that of a broad-casted stand. Complete data are not yet at nand, but calculated yields per acre based on the weight from a typical rod length of row are given in the accompanying table: Dry-land alfalfa (Brott's) Commercial sand luceria (S. P. I. No. 20451) Turkestan alfalfa (S. P. 1. No. 18751). Weig-ht of 167 lbs. 143 lbs. 62 lbs. The yields of hay given in this table are from one cutting ob- tained on an upland field near Potter, Neb., sixteen months after seeding. The mean annual rainfall at Kimball, the nearest point for which precipi
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