Fall sowing presents fewer difficulties than spring sowing. Corn is not the preceding crop and hence the weed problem is not so formidable. Usually a fall sowing follows millet or oats, cowpeas or potatoes. Almost any crop except the sorghums may be grown to precede alfalfa for a fall sowing; these should not be as they consume too much moisture. If possible, put on a dressing of stable manure the preceding winter; plow deep in the spring and work to a fine tilth for the summer crop. South of the latitude of 40 degrees cowpeas is one of the best preparatory crops. They are legumes, and the bacteria that live on their roots are similar to those upon the alfalfa roots; they are also nitrogen-gatherers, taking nitrogen from the air as does the alfalfa, and thus they prepare the soil for alfalfa. Besides, cowpeas are a valuable forage, the hay being worth almost as much, pound for pound, as that of alfalfa. When cut off they leave the ground ready for disking and other preparation. Millet is also excellent for this purpose, leaving the soil unusually friable. Potatoes make a satisfactory preparatory crop, but the danger from them too often is neglect to keep the weeds down. As soon as the land is free, it should be disked and harrowed, and this repeated about every ten days until the time for sowing. RECENT PLOWING NOT DESIRABLE It is seen that plowing for alfalfa just preceding the seeding is not recommended. Plowing leaves the sub-surface too loose, thus depriving the roots of a sufficiently firm footing and making a full sowing more liable to harm from freezing and thawing, and the spring sowing to harm from a dry summer. The necessity of the most perfect surface conditions cannot be to often emphasized, and this too includes considerable compactness rather than a too light or ashy condition. There must be no clods, no stiff and stubborn humps. If alfalfa is to follow clover, and to be seeded in the fall, the sod should be broken early after the clover is harvested and each day’s plowing harrowed that day; then the field disked and cross-disked and harrowed again. After that it should be disked, lapping half, every ten or fifteen days until time for seeding. Alfalfa may follow timothy if the sod is not too old and stubborn, and it may be treated the same as clover sod. INTRODUCE BACTERIA BY PREPARATORY SOWING