Place In The Rotation
Category:
ALFALFA
Much of what has been said about the place for
medium red clover in the rotation may also apply to alsike clover. (See
page 70.) On upland soils its place in the rotation will be very similar
to that of the other variety, but with the difference that the rotations
will be longer, because of the perennial habit of growth in the alsike.
It will be best sown, therefore, on clean land which has produced a crop
that has been cultivated the previous year. Consequently, it may follow
such crops as corn, potatoes, field roots and beans in the North, and
the same crops in the South, with the addition of cow peas, soy beans
and the non-saccharine sorghums. But it may be sown after other crops
when necessary, especially when it is to be pastured. One chief
objection to sowing it thus for hay is that the hay will be less free
from weeds.
On upland this crop may be followed with any kind of a crop requiring
much nitrogen. No crops can be made to follow it with more advantage,
however, than corn and the sorghums, or potatoes. Rape will feed
ravenously on the overturned sod, and wheat and the other small grains
will also feed similarly.
On low lands, especially when they partake of the nature of sloughs, the
rotation is different. In some instances alsike may follow the natural
grasses produced by the slough in the drained or undrained form, as the
case may be, and may be made to supersede them without breaking the
land, but more commonly on these it is sown after the natural sod has
been broken and has decayed somewhat, by growing on it some such crop as
rape or flax. On these lands it is usually grown in long rotations for
pasture and also for hay, and when the sod is again plowed, it is
followed by corn, potatoes, rape, and grains grown for soiling uses,
since such land has naturally high adaptation for these. Flax also is a
favorite crop to sow in such situations after alsike clover.
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Preparing The SoilPrevious:
Soils
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