Cony TIGitN cose ene COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: — z Sa SS, zai, Pon + TY oa oe, ee mee Bay agree i sey 7 oe VaR hits Brn jis JOSEPH E. WING. Alfalfa Farming In America By JOSEPH EWING Staff Correspondent of The Breeder’s Gazette CHICAGO, ILL.: Sanders Publishing Company 1909 Copyrighted, 1909, BY SANDERS PUBLISHING CO. All rights reserved. €cl.4253609 CONTENTS. 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PERE a Ee a dian GAD ORE OS HARVESTING HAY IN THE Wet eT eB ipo ete Neola Rare IS ES . 299-301 HAYING TOOLS ........ PCO es il aperture 302-308 Hay-MAKING IN RAINY Coun INETER TIE See ctels oobe ae ene tiste cohuneanocopsacheaes 309-322 NS TADOeTuIN Go SaVAMINIT ISSAC TUITE cise To Secours eatca ars Shoneaes Steeda hwcney alectenel ore 323-335 INGS AAS AMUIEN DIANE ee ae ec ee ela I Sat se eie A cooO=oLu ANTIDAIDION, Tony SOL oss be W OKC oo oe dao sdeeooodnenasuauescaee mmoe 848-353 ATIPATIPN TO GUND ISIBEO) Goanenedgueoe oo 4 sokae nbs 4 aso bddo boas oD HD YAWIFTSIN CUSBAGIE UA TTT Acs ET AC Yel cco c ogse car stonoaeas occneusie vie eAsneNe ley areltiatedoiefeitens 356-357 SHRED GoeaV GAVIA Wi @ InabeTe Au Vere tetencnotewcreiere retells Copcteistege ce ccioncusiersuonelveusisteer s\olens (ane 358-862 rey CHENEICAT AMERICA. needing humus sadly. It has failed in countless in- stances because of lack of inoculation. If one wishes to grow it he should either inoculate with soil from some successful crimson clover field or should per- sist year after year in growing it on the same soil till at last the inoculation comes. There seems a wild clover along the Atlantic Coast that carries the same bacteria as crimson clover but this is not found west of the Alleghenies. With proper inocu- lation crimson clover will succeed over a far wider territory than is now known or supposed. Melilotus or Sweet Clover—What is.a weed? A plant out of place? Weeds there are and weeds. It one must have them, and usually he will, he could hardly have a better one than Melilotus alba, or white sweet clover. There are two sorts of sweet clover, one with white blooms and one with yellow. The yellow-flowered sort is Melilotus officinalis. It is not so good as the white nor so common. Sweet clover looks like alfalfa. Indeed, it is a sort of first cousin to the alfalfa plant. The main difference is that it has a less deeply boring root stock and is a biennial, or a two-year plant, while alfalfa may live half a ceutury. Sweet clover is a good sort of weed, because it is not unsightly and it feeds the bees and wherever it grows it mightily enriches land. It loves lime land and hard places along roadsides and on railway embankments. It will grow 6 or 8 feet high in favorable places or if it is cut down close it will bear seed when only just above the earth. It was Dr. Cyril G. Hopkins who first called at- MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL. 167 tention to the fact that alfalfa and sweet clover bear the same bacteria on their rootlets and that sweet clover inoculates land for alfalfa. (Breeder’s Gazette, Sept. 16, 1903.) So there is quite a use- ful combination of facts. Sweet clover is very hardy, it will grow on poor soil, it enriches soil very much and it improves the physical condition of soils, then it inoculates the land for alfalfa. In truth many fine fields of alfalfa have had their start from inoculation taken from sweet clover weed patches along roadsides. Melilotus has never been treated as a farm erop in the North. In the South it is much used in Alabama and Mississippi, both as pasture and for hay. No better authority on melilotus could be found than Prof. J. F. Duggar, Director of the Alabama ex- periment station. I quote from a letter from him: In reply to your request, I give you the following data on Melilotus alba (sweet clover), as it is grown in the central prairie belt of Alabama and Mississippi. The seed should be sown in February and lightly covered. It may be sown either on ground devoted entirely to this crop or sown with seed oats or among growing plants of fall-sown oats. At least one bushel of unhulled seed per acre is needed. If sown alone and on good land there will usually be one or two cuttings the first year. If sown with oats as a nurse crop and on poor land, the first year’s growth will scarcely be sufficient for cut- ting, but will afford a fair amount of pasturage. The second year new shoots spring from the old crowns early in March and the first cuttings of hay can be made early in May. There is usually a second cutting. Melilotus should be cut when just beginning to bloom, since after this date it rapdly becomes woody. The hay, especially that secured the year the seed are sown, is very nutritious, the composition resembling that of alfalfa, though melilotus hay contains a smaller proportion of leaves, and the stems are coarser, especially in the hay secured the second year of the plant’s life. At first live stock do not 168 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. relish either the hay or the green plant, but in time most ani- mals eat both with apparent relish, though always preferring grass and other legumes. Sweet clover seeds abundantly in its second year of growth and will thus occupy the land continuously if not destroyed by cultivation. It never makes a full stand except on lime land. Soil deficient in lime, but made up largely of clay, often pro- duces individual plants of thrifty growth, but I have never seen on such Jand a stand thick enough to be profitable. The chief value of melilotus is for the renovation of the stiff, waxy, lime soils of the central prairie regions of Alabama and Mississippi where the subsoil is a soft or rotten limestone. In Alabama yellow melilotus is not at all comparable in value with white melilotus. The yellow comes up earlier in winter, blooms in April, and is dead by June. It never attains the size of either top or root attained by sweet clover and hence is not equal as a renovating plant. Moreover, the bitter principle is much stronger in yellow melilotus, so strong indeed as to taint the milk and butter made from it, a condition that rarely if ever occurs with white meli- lotus. Note the curious fact that sweet clover like alfalfa revels in lime land. I have seen it growing with great luxuriance in piles of crushed limestone rail- way ballast where one would hardly think any plant could find sustenance, but that railway ballast was of limestone and full of limestone dust. Use of Sweet Clover.—Here would seem to be the correct use of melilotus, for making land ready for alfalfa. If it is land deficient in lime put on ground limestone enough to make it alkaline, or else use burned lime if the ground limestone can not be had. Then in case the land needs humus and fertility to be made ready for alfalfa, sow to melilotus for two years. There is no magic about melilotus probably - aside from the magic of its bacteria, and. it will grow the better for fertilization, so fertilize it with MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL. 169 an application of about 250 pounds per acre of high grade acid phosphate or some better phosphate car- rier. Inoculate the seed when it is sown. That is easily done if one can get earth from some alfalfa field or some sweet clover patch. Not much earth is needed; 100 pounds of earth is ample for an acre. Dry the earth in the shade, spreading it out on the barn floor, and shoveling it over now and then, mak- ing it fine. Mix the earth with the melilotus seed and sow together. Melilotus seed is sometimes seen in the hull, though seedsmen usually sell the cleaned seed. It resembles alfalfa seed almost ex- actly, being sometimes a trifle larger. It weighs 60 pounds to the bushel cleaned. To sow 15 pounds per acre of cleaned seed would doubtless give a stand. Mix this with the 100 pounds of inoculated soil and sow together, for thin land long run with- out manure, land too poor for alfalfa. If it is rich soil one would best sow alfalfa at once and be done with it, but if the soil needs building first, probably the sweet clover plant is as good a thing as one can build with. It is especially adapted to worn soils (after liming or naturally filled with lime) in south- ern states. No Fear of Pest—Some fear may be entertained lest the sweet clover becomes a pest in the land. There is no danger of that. Simply mowing the plant will destroy it as it is a biennial and must seed every second year. It often appears in alfalfa fields the first and second years after starting and sometimes the seedsmen are harshly criticised for 170 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. selling adulterated alfalfa seed. Nearly all western seed will contain a little sweet clover seed and no seedsman probably can detect it or clean it out. It is not a serious injury to the alfalfa and disappears completely the third year when the alfalfa is mown off in regular rotation. There is never any difficulty in getting rid of melilotus when one gets ready to dispose of it. It is very much hardier than alfalfa and probably a better forager for plant food; cer- tainly it thrives on poorer soil than alfalfa does and it does very much to make the land ready for alfalfa wherever it grows. It does not ask for as deeply drained land as does alfalfa. On the other hand animals usually scorn to eat it, though I have seen it eaten with relish by sheep, pigs and cows in Alabama, and the animals throve. The seed usually sells a little cheaper than alfalfa. Should there develop much demand for it there would be large profit in producing seed on suitable soil, since it seeds very freely almost anywhere, while alfalfa does not. Melilotus in Kentucky.—As indicative of what melilotus is doing in Kentucky we quote the follow- ing extracts from letters written by J. T. Mardis, from Pendleton County: As an illustration of its value, I will explain that seventeen years ago I bought one hundred acres of as badly worn and washed land as could be found anywhere. My first resolve and constant efforts following was to improve and get in grass, and to obtain these results I worked all my spare time, year after year, filling washes with any material to be had, plowing, harrowing and sowing grass seeds and seeds of many different plants advertised and recommended for improving land, for which MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL. 171 IT spent hundreds of dollars, but as the land was too poor to take in grass to do any good, the labor and seed were lost, as the condition of the land grew worse with each season until seven years ago, when I took up sweet clover, with the result that to- day the land is in fine shape, either being cultivated and produc- ing good crops or in fine blue grass sod, and while producing this effect the land yielded an abundance of pasture and hay. And oh, what a relief to be rid of the sight of those unsightly barren and washed hillsides. It is a biennial, makes fine pasture the first season and abundant crop of pasture, hay or seed the second season. There are two varieties—white and yellow—the latter being generally preferred for hay, as it does not grow so coarse; it grows from two to four feet high, while the white will double this growth under same conditions, and makes splendid hay if properly man- aged; makes more and later pasture and builds land up much quicker. Each is good for all kinds of stock; does not bioat cattle or sheep; is one of the best honey plants known. It is a leguminous plant, the strongest within our knowledge. When once established it requires no further seeding as it reseeds itself. After it has once seeded, the land may be cultivated two or three years and a good stand follow without reseeding. Sown at any season of the year, you are sure to get enough to secure a catch by waiting and allowing it to seed and spread, but of course it is desirable to get a good stand at once, for which I advise sowing from Dec. 1 to March 1, on top of land without covering. Or if sown later, say to the first of May, it should be harrowed or brushed in. It can be sown with small grain of any kind either in spring or fall. If sown in early fall it should be covered sufficiently deep to prevent germination until spring. Good results are had by sowing on stony washed and barren hills during the winter months without previous preparation of the land, as the seed will be carried down by the frequent freeze and thaw. The seed should never be sown on snow or hard frozen ground, as it is liable to be carried off by following rains. Good blue grass sod can be had in three to four years on this class of land by sowing the two seeds together; all grasses do much better grown with sweet clover. To illustrate the rapidity with which sweet clover is gaining favor, I will state that in 1903 I saved one bushel of seed. In 1904 I saved four bushels of seeds. I wrote articles which were published in the county paper, describing its habits and quali- ties. I continued to recommend it locally and in 1905 saved 172 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. thirty bushels of seed which were readily taken, and later in the season the demand could not be supplied at any price. As a re- sult hundreds of acres of land in this and in one or two neigh- boring counties, so worn and washed that it was almost worth- less, has been and is being brought back to a state of productive- ness and value. In regard to seed, there seems to be no established market as to prices or number of pounds per bushel. It is sold at all kinds of prices per bushel, the bushels ranging from 14 to 60 pounds per bushel. There is also a vast difference in the quality of the seed, as to how it is cleaned and handled, as it heats very readily even in small bulk, consequently there is much dead seed sold, which fact has discouraged many would-be growers. I recommend the sowing of unhulled seed as a cheaper seed as something else is often substituted for the hulled. It should be cut when the first blooms appear and handled much the same as other clovers, giving a little more sunshine, according to weight of crop. For hay I advise sowing the yellow blossom variety on hand where the machine can be run. More feed of fine quality can be had per acre from this plant than any grass I have ever seen. For improving land and for grazing I strongly advise using the white variety. I do not recommend sweet clover for low or wet land. : We have recently purchased 200 acres more of the same class of land and will soon have this in the same present condition of the first 100 acres purchased. During the spring of the ex- tremely dry season of 1908 we broke for corn an old timothy meadow where patches of sweet clover had been started, and all during the season, after the corn had started, it was easy to see where the sweet clover had grown, and these spots were the only part of the field where we had any corn which was fairly good, and the rest of the field yielded only fodder of poor quality. Mr. James Thompson, an all-round business man and director of the Pendleton Bank at Falmouth, has purchased a few hun- dred acres of worn out land which he has seeded to sweet clover and is well pleased with the investment and says he knows of no other plant so valuable to those having worn out or washed land. Mr. J. S. Gardner, Kelat, Ky., stock buyer and_ shipper, says: “The fattest sheep and cattle I handle are those from sweet clover pastures.” Milch cows fed on sweet clover hay yield an abundance of milk from which is made nice yellow butter. Stock cattle, young borses and mules do well on the hay without grain, MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL. 173 Land is just as easily broken after a heavy crop of sweet clover as after common red, if plowed before the seed plants have made too much growth. Seedling plants do not interfere with wheat. The yearling plant is a little in the way of harvest- ing, but does not injure the crop, unless it should be very thick. It will grow just as well on the poorest stony washed limestone land ag on the best of soil. The land cannot be too dry and hot for it to succeed. It does prepare land for alfalfa by loosening, enriching and furnishing the necessary bacteria. It is a drouth resisting plant, and continues to grow through the dryest sum- mers, furnishing an abundance of grazing, while other grasses are parched, and remains green until quite hard freezing. Sweet clover is all right on good land, but it is the man with the worn land who needs it most. On dry land such a thing as an entire failure is out of the question if good seed is sown, no matter at what season of the year, but of course you may expect best re- sults from spring seeding where the seed is covered by any means convenient, or from early winter sowing, when nature will do the covering. When sown for hay I use one bushel of seed to four acres, for grazing or improving land one bushel will be suf- ficient for five or six acres. If sown late in the season and the weather is dry the seed will lay over to the next spring and - come all right. Some of the best stands I have ever had were obtained from such conditions. Some of the statements made may seem a little extravagant to those not familiar with the plant, yet there is not a particle of exaggeration. Just imagine a growth from six to eight feet high and so thick a man can scarcely walk through it, being left on the land to enrich it and stop wash and to be followed without cost the next season with a growth of seed plants that will form a dense sod and grow to the height of two to three feet, and this process repeated year after year, and add to this the fact that this plant unquestionably attracts to the soil more than double the amount of nitrogen that red clover will under the most favor- able conditions. Can you then wonder that land is so rapidly im- proved?” In Wyoming.—The Wyoming experiment station reports that lambs fed upon sweet clover hay relished it and throve. It was found that they digested it ex- ceedingly well, and that it contained a very large percentage of digestible protein, It is well known 174 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. that animals usually refuse to eat green sweet clover. It seems that when made into hay, with a little salt added, they relish it. The Wyoming experiment is thus reported: Sweet clover throughout most of the eastern states is consid- ered as a weed and is treated as such. At this altitude, under our peculiar conditions, it is believed by a few that there is a fu- ture for it, since it grows well. It is an alkali-resisting plant and, although it is not palatable to stock in the green condition, yet after it is cured, especially where salt has been added, the stock relish it and thrive well upon it. It is very nutritious, readily digestible, and contains an exceedingly high percentage of crude protein. It is more nutritious when cut at the proper period than many of the other hays. The sweet clover hay used in this experiment was grown on the experiment station farm near Laramie in 1905. It had been in stack for over a year before being used for this experi- ment. It was very rank at the time of cutting and the amount of stems, therefore, very large in proportion to the leaves. The stems had become rather hard and woody. Notwithstanding this, the hay proved to be a very narrow ration, since the nutri- tive ratio was only 1:3.2. The crude fiber did not run as high as would have been expected, being but 24.75 per cent. The experi- ment was begun April 13th and completed April 26th, 1907. PATTIOUNL TOC et cen ecei ni neers PEE orn ee toner aetiaseeeioo U0 Useralms I Srakoibhat nel ckayd (eRe Rr niedoed marie CeGoaDa nie fo Gaero omDooD OGon oc sboMooES 00 grams AMOUNT OL FECES) (ALT G LY, mice vteicseicts orcieleie ohelers Raha essen 1,118 grams ANALYSIS. . : Ether Crude Crude Nitrogen- Water.) Ash. extract. fiber. protein. |free extract. CSAs mersirctatclcorsislereetstelaielels y=) feb Ad) 1.58 24.75 15.74 59.387 INECES Sep crlcctererecterererctete Nesanosad 6 27 9.41 2.89 42.32 10.44 28.67 AMOUNT IN GRAMS. Dry Retin Ether Crude Crude Nitrogen- matter. =". | extract. fiber. protein. | free extract, Fed and consumed...... 2,765.7 322.5 47.4 (42.5 472.2 1,181.1 IO COR ewiarcreinrettonelete ole) 1,047.8 105.2 32.3 473.1 116.7 820. Digested iiss yeitesineteioore nou et!) 217.3 15.1 269.4 355.5 860.6 Per cent digested....... 62.12 67.38 31.86 36.28 45.28 42.86 a eee POLITELY MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL. 175 DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS OF SWEET CLOVER HAY. Dry Agia > Ether Crude Crude Nitrogen- matter. * |extract.| fiber. | protein. |free extract. | —a — She emis vatrsen cts: 58.44 65.36 32.91 27.14 2883 70.52 SaGe}0) Poacgaasoocs soondoao4o 62.08 64.62 28.06 37.48 75.77 02.74 Sacer) Bhs cooedacsoscucosees 62.12 67.38 31.86 86.28 75.28 72.86 TASVIELAL Chencitalisieiciierieiers 60.88 65.79 | 30.94 33.638 75.46 72.04 The digestive coefficients of sweet clover hay are entirely sat- isfactory. It seems that the great objection to the hay is the flavor and the fact that it becomes woody if it is allowed to ripen. It is believed that there are possibilities for this plant in Wyoming if it is cut at the right time and properly cured and eared for. It grows well and the yields are large. The nutritive ratio is 1:32.2, as found by this experiment, which makes sweet clover a narrower ration than alfalfa. PHOSPHORUS FOR SOILS. Phosphorus is the ‘‘life’’ of the soil. Scientists are not agreed as to the function of phosphorus in the soil, some contending that as applied it is merely a sort of disinfectant, as it were; that it de- stroys certain toxic or poisonous conditions hurt- ful to plant life. Certain it is, however, that soils well stored with available phosphorus are produc- tive of the right sorts of useful plants. Soils well stored with phosphorus are rich soils, grow rich plants and make splendid animals. The soils of the central blue-grass region of Kentucky are so rich in phosphorus that the addition of more can not usually be seen in the crop. They are rich too in carbonate of lime and from these soils grow the best grasses in the world, and the horses and eat- tle feeding on these grasses are famed the world around. : Soils that are poor and unproductive are usually much helped by applheations of additional phos- phorus. Alfalfa especially responds to this element. Basic Slag.—kBasic slag has already been men- tioned. It is a refuse left from making steel. Cer- tain ores rich in phosphorus make bad steel unless that element is taken out of them. John W. Pater- son of West Scotland Agricultural College, Glas- gow, in an admirable pamphlet on use of ‘‘ Basic Slag on the Farm,’’ says: The essential constituents of manures are nitrogen, potash (176) PHOSPHORUS FOR SOILS. ieee and phosphoric acid for the sake of the crop, lime for the sake of the land. At the outset of cultivation size of crop will generally be de- termined by the supply of the first three. After a term of years the ability of the soil to respond to fresh applications of artifi- cial manures will largely depend on its holding a sufficiency of lime. The use of most of the ordinary artificial manures involves the washing out of lime into the drains. Thus the application of 1 ewt. sulphate of ammonia will, in ordinary circumstances, cause an ultimate loss of more than its own weight of available lime compounds in the drainage of waters. After a long period of artificial manuring the use of ground lime as a soil corrective has been rapidly gaining prominence in recent years. It is in view of this fact that among all artificial manures basic slag possesses a special interest. While primarily em- ployed as a phosphate, it contains ground lime as an accidental constituent. Bones do not cause waste of available lime com- pounds from the soil. Basic slag actually increases them. All other artificial manures in common use, nitrogenous, phosphatic and potassic, cause a gradual washing away of the lime com- pounds from the land. Manures are applied not because the land is ever actually deficient in nitrogen, potash or phosphoric acid at the time. They are applied rather because the natural supplies of these are in a form unsuitable for absorption by plants. The importance of lime in land is that it hastens the conver- sion of the natural soil constituents into available forms. This effect is exercised on the phosphates, on the potash, but above all on the nitrogen. The general effect of liming on newly broken in land, especially on peats, which are commonly deficient in lime, is sufficient evidence of this. Leguminous crops, including clovers, vetches and beans, do not require nitrogenous Manures because they are able to utilize atmospheric nitrogen. Lime greatly strengthens their power to do this, thereby giving larger crops and enriching the land in nitrogen at the same time. Basic slag has the same power part- ly owing to the extra lime which it contains, the effect being usually best seen in the stimulation of clovers in pasture leys. Basic slag is a by-product in the manufacture of steel by the basic process. Pig iron frequently contains phosphorus, and steel made from this is brittle unless the phosphorus is removed. In the process of manufacture a blast of air is forced through the molten pig iron, whereby the phosphorus in the pig is burned to 178 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. give phosphoric acid. This acid then unites with lime thrown into the molten metal for the purpose. A phosphate of lime is formed. This rises to the surface of the metal as a fusible slag, and is subsequently poured off and cooled. A dark, brittle, hard mass is obtained, which is capable of extremely fine grinding in roller mills. : In 1886, Dr. Hilgenstock showed that basic slag phosphate ex- ists as a hitherto unknown compound of phosphoric acid and lime, viz., a tetra-basic phosphate (CaO),P.0;. Later investiga- tions showed that this phosphate, if only sufficiently ground, passes easily into solution even in very dilute acids. In a sample shaken up with peat and water, 78.8 per cent of its phosphate was dissolved in 14 days. The suitability of basic slag phos- phate for direct absorption by plants was thereby demonstrated. The special characteristics of basic slag aS a manure are (1) the easy solubility of its phosphate in dilute acid, (2) the pres- ence of free lime giving what is chemically called an alkaline re- action. In both these respects basic slag is superior to bones. Super-phosphate, the other principal source of phosphoric acid, is superior in solubility, being water soluble, but inferior in its general effect upon soils, being deficient in lime. These differ- ences in character of the three manures are seen in their relative effects as crop-producers in carefully conducted experiments. The capacity of leguminous crops to utilize atmospheric nitro- gen renders nitrogenous manures generally unnecessary. For the same reason farm yard manure, which supplies much nitro- gen, can in most cases be better utilized upon some other crop. The most profitable return will in ordinary practice be obtained from a dressing of artificials supplying phosphates, potash and lime. Beans, vetches and peas are all lime-loving crops, and for this reason basic slag is well suited to their requirements. Belonging to the same natural order are sainfoin, lucerne and clover, im- portant forage crops. For these, 5 cwt. basic slag, and 2% ewt. kainit in autumn, is recommended as a suitable application, with 3 or 4 cwt. superphosphate, and the same quantity of kainit again in spring. The quantities stated may require to be increased or diminished according to the fertility of the land. While the necessity of applying manures to land under crop is now almost generally recognized, the claims of pasture strangely enough are almost wholly neglected. Recent investiga- tions have shown, however, that this is a mistake. More es- pecially is this the case with the medium and _ second-class pastures, whicn form such a large proportion of our grazing area. PHOSPHORUS FOR SOILS. 179 Practically speaking, all such pastures will yield a profitable return to a suitable application of manures, and in some cases the natural yield may be even trebled. Attention was first directed to the improvement of pasture land by Dr. Somerville, while director of the Northumberland County Farm at Cockle Park. His experiments were started in 1897, and the results to date are published in a report by his suc- cessor, Prof. Gilchrist. The plots receiving different manurial treatment are each 3 1-20 acres—three acres being grazed each summer, while the odd fraction is cut for hay. The live-increases of the sheep and the yields of hay are carefully noted during each year, and compared with the unmanured plot. Ten differ- ent systems of manuring were contrasted in the experiments, but the following four only need be referred to, as they were most profitable of the various methods: Mutton Profit Euaiy; PLOT. MANURES. poestek produced | from | per acre a ‘| (6 years). |manures|(6 years) 6 (Onaboaehahbhxevl Go odo. poddaoospoudodouEcesD visiets 246 lbs. sietels 59 ewt. 3 ORG wits Sal oral SOc teryajcerteinereieleetevevers state 22s. 822 lbs. 158s. 164 cwt. 4 5 ewt. Slag,* 1897, same 1900........... 22S. 662 lbs. 108s. | 1383 ewt. 5 7 ewt. super,* 1897, same 1900......... 86S 642 lbs. 88 Ss. 124 cwt. 8 Sameas plot5; 144 tonground lime, : NSO Sa NISOO tere cistate hye, erecisvnctonres 56s. 769 lbs. 10% s. | 188 cwt. *Containing 100 lbs. phosphoric acid. The profit is estimated from the extra mutton produced over and above that on the unmanured plot. It is valued for the purpose at 334d. per pound, live weight. Basic slag here has proved at o..ce the cheapest and most profitable form of fertilizer on pasture. Its superiority to super- phosphate (Plots 4 and 5) seem to be due to the fact that besides containing easily available phosphate it also contains free lime. Comparison of plots 5 and 8 bears this inference. The land at Cockle Park is stiff clay, and has been under pasture for over thirty years. Basic slag is purchased on its percentage of phosphate of . lime. The quality varies from about 20 to 45 per cent phosphate (equal to 9 to 21 per cent phosphoric acid). The higher grades are usually rather cheaper per unit. The unit prices of different samples may be ascertained by dividing the prices per ton by the percentages. Other things being equal, the quality which sup- plies the unit of phosphate at the lowest cost on the farm should be purchased. I devote this amount of space to basic slag be- 180 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. cause I have seen such good effects come from its use in England, and because it did equally well on Woodland Farm. It will never perhaps be cheap enough for use west of the Allegheny Mountains, since it is all imported from England or Germany, but along the Atlantic seaboard it is now probably as cheap a source of phosphoric acid as anything known. With basic slag one gets quite a little lime free of cost, since usually there is about 55% of carbonate of lime in basic slag. It should sell for about $1 per unit; that is, a slag analyzing 18% phosphorie acid should sell for $18 per ton, when it is about as cheap as any other source of phosphorus with the lime thrown in. In England on old pastures basic slag works miracles. There with the sowing of no seeds at all clovers spring up and cover over the land, almost crowding out the grasses. The lime has sweetened the soil, the phosphorus fed it, the clovers result. Later the decay of clover leaves and stems fill the soil with available nitrogen which in turn feeds the grass. When will we learn in America to feed soils? Other Sources of Phosphorus—Prof. Alfred Vivian, of the Ohio State University, so clearly and concisely states the composition of phosphatic fer- tilizers in his admirable little book, ‘‘ First Prin- ciples of Soil Fertility,’’ that we here quote: Phosphoric acid is present in the soil in much smaller quan- tities than potash, and experience shows that it is much more likely to become exhausted. In fact, there are sections of the country where no other fertilizers than those furnishing phos- phoric acid are used, while these are bought in large quantities. PHOSPHORUS FOR SOILS. 181 All this class of fertilizers contains its phosphoric acid in the form of phosphates, i. e., the phosphoric acid is combined with some basic substance, which is generally lime. The phosphates may be subdivided into two general. classes—the natural and the manufactured phosphates. Natural Phosphates.—There are two general sources of phos- phates—the bones of dead animals, and certain phosphate-contain- ing minerals, which will be briefly considered. Raw bone meal is made by grinding raw bones to a powder, and the finer it is the more valuable the product. This substance contains about 22 per cent of phosphoric acid and 4 per cent of nitrogen. Raw bones contain a small quantity of fatas well and, as this prevents rapid decay of the bone, the phosphoric acid and nitrogen in the meal are somewhat slowly available to the crop. Steamed Bone meal.—Most of the bone meal sold at the pres- ent time is made from bones previously steamed to remove the fat and a part of the nitrogen compounds. The fat is used in making soap and the nitrogen in glue and gelatins. Steamed bone contains from 28 to 30 per cent of phosphoric acid and about 114% per cent of nitrogen. The steamed bones can be ground to a much finer powder, and the removal of the fat causes them to decay more rapidly, so that they must be considered a more valuable source of phosphoric acid than the raw bones. Mineral Phosphates.—In a number of places rock deposits are found that contain varying percentages of phosphate of lime. These phosphates are usually named after the place where they are obtained, as, Carolina phosphates, Florida phosphates and Tennessee phosphates. These rocks contain from 18 to 32 per cent of phosphoric acid, and differ from the bone products in that they are purely mineral substances and contain no organic matter. Ground into a fine powder, they are sometimes sold un- der the name of floats, but the rock phosphates are used only to a limited extent in the crude condition, Superphosphates or Manufactured Phosphates—The phos- phorie acid in all of the natural phosphates described is combined with lime in a form that is extremely insoluble in water. In or- der to make the phosphate soluble it is sometimes treated with sulphuric acid, which unites with part of the lime, leaving a phosphate which contains only one-third as much lime as the natural phosphate, and which is soluble in water. The lime and sulphuric acid make a compound which is the same as that found in gypsum or land-plaster. This combination of soluble phos- phate and gypsum, made by treating the natural phosphates with acid, is called by the various names of super-phosphate, soluble 182 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. phosphate, acid phosphate or acidulated rock. For its manufac- ture the rock phosphates are generally employed, both because they are cheaper and because the organic matter in the bones interferes with the use of sufficient acid to make all the phos- phate soluble. A good sample of super-phosphate or acidulated rock contains about 16 per cent of phosphoric acid in a form that is soluble in water. Sometimes when insufficient acid has been used a part of the soluble phosphate will change into a form in- termediate in solubility between the natural phosphate and the acid phosphate, and the acid phosphate is said to have undergone reversion, and the new compound is called reverted phosphate. The latter product is supposed to be more available to the plant than the insoluble or natural phosphate, hence the soluble and reverted phosphoric acid taken together are known as the avyail- able phosphoric acid. In some instances bone meal is treated with a limited amount of sulphuric acid and the product is called acidulated bone. This substance contains a much smaller proportion of its phos- phoric acid in the soluble form than does the rock superphos- phate. When soluble phosphates are added to the soil they soon combine with the mineral matter, and are converted first into the reverted phosphate, and finally into the insoluble form such as is found naturally in the soil. In this way the phosphoric acid-is fixed and there is no danger of its being lost by leaching. Relative Value of Phosphate Fertilizers—The soluble phos- phate present in the acidulated goods is generally considered the most valuable form of phosphoric acid for use as a fertilizer. At first sight it seems useless to go to the expense of making the phosphate soluble when it is again rendered insoluble by the soil before the plant can make use of it. The real object in mak- ing it soluble is to aid in its distribution in the soil. When an insoluble phosphate is applied it remains where it falls except for the slight distribution it receives by cultivation. In the case of the soluble phosphate, on the other hand, the phosphate dis- solves in the soil water and is widely distributed before it be- comes fixed by the soil. In the former case the roots must go to the phosphate while in the latter the phosphate is carried to the roots. It follows from what has been said that after the soluble phosphate is distributed throughout the soil the indi- vidual particles must be very much smaller than is the case with the insoluble phosphate. There are some soils upon which the superphosphates cannot be used without injury, usually those that are deficient in lime, _ the superphosphate in such cases having a tendency to make PHOSPHORUS FOR SOILS. 183 them acid. Indeed it is even asserted that soils containing an abundance of lime in the beginning may be made acid by the continued use of superphosphate if no lime is added. When the natural phosphates alone are considered there is no doubt that the preference should be given to those derived from bones. The organic matter present in the bones decays when it is incorporated with the soil, and this process doubtless causes the phosphate to become more readily available to the plant, while the rock phosphate on the contrary is very slowly decomposed. The degree of fineness to which bone meal or mineral phosphate is ground is of prime importance. Very fine bone meal is much - more available than that which is coarser and is always rated at a higher price a ton. Using Floats with Manure—The use of floats, or finely ground phosphate rock, has not met with general favor, and it probably does not give good resulis when used alone. Some of the earlier experiments indicate that it has practically no value as a source oi phosphoric acid for the plant. Recent investigations at the Ohio and Illinois Experiment Stations show that when floats are added to farm manure it has a very high fertilizing value; in fact the increased crop production in Ohio due to adding the ground rock phosphate to the stall manure was nearly as large as that obtained from the addition of superphosphate. The acid substances produced during the decay of the manure apparently make the phosphoric acid in the rock more available, and it would seem from these experiments that the comparatively in- expensive floats might, partially at least, replace superphosphate if used in connection with the manure. Other experimenis have demonsirated that good resulis can be obtained from the use of ground rock phosphate when plowed under With a green manure crop like clover, but that it is of very little value if used on a soil low in organic matter. In a plot experiment at the Mass- achuseitts experiment station two “equal money’s worth” of ground Carolina rock and superphosphates were compared. In this case the superphosphate proved superior at first, but within a few years the plot io which rock phosphate was added gave higher yields. It would seem, on the whole, that the use of floats with manure is worthy of a trial by anyone needing a phosphaie fertilizer. Ohio Bulletin 134 recommends that the _ ground rock be used “as an absorbent in the stable, thus secur- ing an intimaie mixture with the manure in iis fresh condition.” Raw Phosphatic Rock for Alfalfa—Raw rock, or floats, the natural Tennessee, South Carolina 184 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. or Florida phosphatic rock, is the basis of the fer- tilizer called acid phosphate, or acidulated bone. It is made into acidulated form by the addition of about as much sulphuric acid as is taken of finely ground rock. The raw rock contains a large amount of phos- phorus, but it is not in an available condition to be taken up by plants; at least this is the general supposition. Experiment, however, shows that when the finely ground phosphatic rock is put in contact with decaying organic matter in the soil it does be- come available and plants feed upon it. A given amount of money will purchase about two or three times as much phosphorus in the form of raw rock as it will purchase in the acidulated form. J. F. Jack on his farm in eastern Virginia has given the raw rock a careful test and with very marked results. The rock was applied at varying rates, from 250 pounds per acre to 1,000 pounds per acre. Check strips where no fertilizer was applied were left. The result showed conclusively that the raw phosphate was available and where 1,000 pounds per acre was applied the result was a splen- did growth of alfalfa. Even the application of 400 pounds gave good results, though it is not probable that it would be nearly so permanent. Fully as good results were obtained with the raw rock on this par-— ticular soil where a heavy growth of crimson clover had been turned down and about 1,000 pounds per acre of water-slaked lime was used, as was had from raw bone, 400 pounds, or acid phosphate, 400 pounds. PHOSPHORUS FOR SOILS. 185 It is not yet safe to say that upon all soils the result would be the same, but on this particular soil, somewhat acid, with a heavy growth of green clover turned under, there is no mistaking the great saving resulting from the use of the raw rock. Upon this same soil potash seemed to give no noticeable result, nor could be found a strip where was applied nitrate of soda at the rate of 100 pounds per acre. It was indistinguishable, showing that the decaying crimson clover furnished all the available nitrogen needed for the growth of the hittle alfalfa plants. There was left one plot with no inoculation. The result was most astonishing. Where the land was inoculated with soil evenly spread the alfalfa stood thick and strong, knee high and more. Where no moculation had been applied it was thin, weak, crowded with weeds, many plants less than 2” high. Phosphates on Alfalfa.— Even on good land I have found it very profitable to sow some sort of phos- phate with new sown alfalfa. The phosphorus cer- tainly greatly stimulates the little alfalfa plants and makes them hustle to get ahead of the weeds and grass. Thus stronger stands result. Also less seed may be sown to the acre than if no phosphorus is used. The writer and his brother have used on Woodland Farm raw bone meal, acid phosphate and basic slag with about equal reults so far as the eye could see. It is our practice to put on 250 to 400 pounds per acre of 16% acid phosphate when the alfalfa is sown in soils well filled with lime. Acid 186 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. phosphate is about the most soluble of the phos- phatic fertilizers and thus is best for top dressing when there is abundant lime in the soil. When there is suspicion that there may not be lime enough then basic slag or bone meal should be used, unless lime also is applhed. Acid phosphate dissolves away a part of the lime in the soil. That is its one bad feature. As has been stated the alfalfa meadows on Wood- land Farm get an annual dressing of phosphorus young and old alike, and this practice pays well. Fertilizer Distributer--On Woodland Farm we own a wide and large fertilizer distributer. This machine sows a strip 8 wide and the box holds 1,000. pounds of fertilizer. It simply sows the stuff broad- cast on the surface. There are various types of these machines. The American Seeding Machine Co., Springfield, Ohio, makes one, and another is made by the Peoria Drill and Seeder Co., Peoria, Ill. With such a machine a man can go rapidly over his old meadow, or sow his phosphorus over his land preparatory to seeding his alfalfa. Time is the thing hardest to command on most farms in the spring; many would fertilize their meadows if they were not otherwise too busy. With these large wide sowing machines a man can rapidly get over his fields. No one should hesitate to buy the fer- tilizer, since a dollar so invested will usually re- turn three or four in the crop of hay. Adding to Fertility—There is here a striking thought. Since our farms east of the Missouri PHOSPHORUS FOR SOILS. 187 River are nearly all of them deficient in phosphorus, if we buy it and use it on alfalfa meadows, then feed the alfalfa hay and put back the manure, we are steadily adding to our capital of fertility; not much is lost, only we sell away in the bones of our cattle, pigs and sheep a part of it and in their flesh and blood a little more. An alfalfa farm may thus become a great laboratory of fertility gathering, provided the crops are fed on the farm. When they are sold off the story is different. How Much Phosphorus?—In England it is the custom to apply very large amounts of basic slag to their meadows and pastures far in excess of what the plants can take up, and they seem to get large profit from so doing. There is lack of careful ex- periment to show us what amounts of phosphorus will pay best sown with or on alfalfa. The require- ments of the plant, that is, the amounts actually taken away from the soil, are as follows: 1,000 lbs. of alfalfa hay contains 5 lbs. of phosphoric acid; 4 tons, or 8,000 Ibs., would then contain 40 lbs. of phosphoric acid. Two hundred and fifty pounds of 16% acid phosphate would contain that amount, and should make good what was removed from the soil by the 4 tons of hay. That there should be abund- ance in supply the writer advises the use of 300 Ibs. annually of 16% acid phosphate, or propor- tional amounts of the stuff, if a different percent- age is bought. Thus if only 10% of available phos- phoric acid is present one would need to use 400 Ibs. or more. So it is cheaper and better to use only 188 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. the high grade fertilizers containing large percent- ages of available phosphoric acid. How Well Will This Pay?—In most of the east- ern United States a 16% acid phosphate can he bought for $14 to $16 per ton. Thus 250 lbs. would cost about $2, and the labor of applying it anout 30c. Thus to fertilize an acre costs less than $2.50. The yield of hay will be increased in proportion to the need of phosphorus, but on Woodland Farm it has been as much as 2 tons of hay per acre increase, and thus this additional hay cost us only $1.25 per ton. Could we have afforded to have left this land unfertilized? The plain fact is that farming is, after all, a manufacturing proposition. The land is the fac- tory. Its fertility is the raw material. A man would be thought inconceivably foolish who would through stinginess refuse to keep his factory sup- plied with raw materials, thus letting his machinery work to only half of its capacity. The alfalfa meadow, the corn field, these plants are our ma- chines. Feed them with their required raw ma- terial. POTASH AS A FERTILIZER. Most soils derived from granitic rocks have in them a lot of potash. Most soils in the glaciated area of eastern and central America seems to be quite well supplied with potash. Some sandy soils are deficient, and peaty lands, where once old pond bottoms were, are especially deficient. To grow al- falfa on peat or to grow corn there one must use potash. Testing with Potash.—As a rule on ordinary up- land clays and clay loams potash seems not to be lacking. Very often where it is applied to such soils no result can be seen. It is wise for each farm- er to make test of this matter for himself. Let him procure a few hundred pounds of muriate of potash and apply it in strips over his fields, marking the ends of the strips so that he can see the result, if there is any. About 200 lbs. per acre of muriate of potash is a moderately heavy application. Wood Ashes—Wood ashes may contain 8% of potash and 2% of phosphoris acid. There is also some lime in them and other minerals in small amounts. Wood ashes have an especially good ac- tion on alfalfa. It is an interesting truth that no one has yet been able to compound a fertilizer that would have the same effect as wood ashes, though the ingre- dients were so mingled that chemically the two mate- rials were nearly identical. Nature has done some- (189) 190 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. thing with wood ashes that man can not imitate very well. The writer has secured splendid results from use of wood ashes on soils that did not seem to need potash. I advise that all wood ashes be saved with care and whenever there is a saw mill or any other wood-burning furnace nearby the ashes should be secured and applied to alfalfa land. Wood ashes are applied in varying amounts, from 900 lbs. to one ton per acre, EEOWING, tHE SOrl. Plowing is an ancient art. The height of a land’s civilization is very nearly to be measured by the sort of plowing done there. What is plowing for? It turns under loose stubble, trash and vegetation, putting it down into the soil where it may decay and by its decay help set free mineral plant food. It loosens the earth to let air in and this promotes im- portant changes in the soil. It lets the water sink down into the soil, hence plowed lands are moister and will withstand drouth much longer than un- plowed lands. There are certain crops that seems to thrive on shallow plowed soils. Alfalfa, on the other hand, seems to thrive best where the land is plowed deep. In older lands than ours, where agriculture has advanced very far towards a perfect system, deep plowing is much practiced. In France some plow a foot deep and even deeper. On the Island of Guernsey men often plow a field twice, the first plowing shallow, the second one crossways and go- ing down as far as 16”. On such lands alfalfa thrives especially well. In France and Algeria men plow for alfalfa full 20” deep. Why Deep Plowing Suits Alfalfa——The reason why alfalfa likes the land plowed deep is doubtless because the letting in of air and moisture favors the life of alfalfa-promoting bacteria. These (191) 192 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. thrive especially well in soils where the air can penetrate easily. The bacteria supply alfalfa with nitrogen. Thus deep plowing is equivalent to feed- ing the alfalfa with extra nitrogen. The heaviest growth of alfalfa that I have ever seen was on the ranch in Utah where I once lived, the plants stand- ing 48” high all over the field and very thick. The underlying soil there was of loam, interspersed with layers of loose sand and gravel, a soil that was too easily drained, not very fertile, but well filled with lime and other alkalies. With copious irrigation that land produced enormous crops of hay. Deep plowing in a manner imitates such a condi- tion by letting in the air and storing up more mois- ture as well. Of course one must use judgment. If his soil is of poor clay with only a thin skin of vegetable mould on top one dares not bury that deep under the clay and plant maize thereon, but it is probable that he could do it and plant alfalfa with success, especially if the land was well drained and limed. The water-holding power of deeply plowed soil is about double that of unplowed, or shallow plowed soil. This is important when it comes to getting maximum crops of alfalfa hay. The lack of mois- ture is usually the limiting factor in crop yield, a fact not half appreciated as yet. How to Plow Deep—I have done some experi- menting on a hard clay soil with numerous small round boulders or ‘‘niggerheads’’ in it in trying to plow deep. It is not an easy task. In this especial PLOWING THE SOIL. 193 soil on Woodland Farm the top soil is rather poor in lime, leached away by the erosion of centuries of rain. Down about 16” are many limestone peb- bles. Could these be thrown up by the plow the result would be the same as a heavy hming—be better, in truth. How do we know this? By the be- havior of land that has been tile drained. Where the ditches are dug the subsoil is mixed with the top soil—in fact in filling the subsoil is usually left on top—and there will grow the best alfalfa with- out question. Even in a dry year the effect is very marked, the narrow strip of land where the tile ditch stood sending up alfalfa like a ridge, often 12 or more inches taller than the rest of the field. The effect is more marked on a dry year than on a wet one, so it can not be attributed to the effect of underdrainage altogether. We have found that with a large common break- ing plow we could go down 10” easily enough, if the land was not too moist nor too dry. After that a smaller plow can follow and go 4” or 5” deeper. Not much of this last soil will be thrown clear of the furrow, but it will become well mixed through with the top soil. Woodland Farm has only be- gun experimentation along this line, but we are quite well persuaded that by the time the reader sees these lines we will have abundant proof of the great use of this deep plowing. We are ready to advise only in fairly fertile soils, especially if the subsoil has more lime than the surface, a depth of plowing of 12” or 16” or as deep as you can go. 194 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. Plowing, like the tariff, is ‘‘a local matter,’’ so each farmer had better test the thing for himself. On his own soil deep plowing may not work so well. It is easily tested on a small scale in any event. Subsoiling—A. subsoil plow is one that merely runs in the furrow and loosens up the underlying soul. It does not bring any of it up to the surface. Subsoiled land has much greater water-holding ca- pacity than before it was subsoiled. Sometimes this fact is a detriment, if the land is poorly drained. It is difficult to subsoil land that has in it boulders or large stones. Subsoiled land erodes less than other land, because the water sinks readily into the subsoil and there is thus a great reservoir of satu- rated earth which in turn gives moisture to the over- lying soil. In all hilly regions where there is dan- ger of erosion, as in east Tennessee, subsoiling has been found to be a more useful practice. Not so much work has been done in subsoiling for alfalfa as should be done. I have only done such subsoiling as I described in the ditching work done on Woodland Farm. That has convinced me, however, that some day much land will in some way be loosened up here and the yield of alfalfa be increased at least 25%, and probably more. On the Rappahannock River, in Virginia, J. F. Jack has tested subsoiling in a limited way and the result has been very markedly good. In truth sub- soiling tested alongside of additional fertilization gave markedly superior results. Other men have related to me their experiences with subsoiling, but PLOWING THE SOIL. 195 so far as I am aware nothing has been done in ex- periment station work along this line. On all hard clays and wherever it is desirable that more water be stored in the subsoil I advise the use of the sub- soil plow. It would certainly be wise to test it ina small way at first, then if results seemed good it could be adopted as a part of the regular practice. In Europe it is not unknown to trench or dig up a field with spades to a depth of 36”, mixing top and bottom soils, and land thus treated, well limed, well manured, yields crops that would astonish an American farmer, even if living on the richest soils. Plowing for Spring Sowing—When alfalfa is to be sown in the spring it is well to get the plowing done early, this so that the land will settle together again and make a better seedbed for the seedling plants. Freshly plowed land is too loose to hold moisture near the surface well. Thus it is best to plow for alfalfa in the fall or during the winter. If lime is to be applied it is best to apply it imme- diately after the plowing, or after one dragging of the land. Then it is disked in and mixed well with the soil. If the plowing can not be done early it may be done immediately before seeding, but then more care must be taken to firm the soil again and make a good seedbed. Going over it several times with the disk harrow is one way to firm it, or to roll it with a heavy roller and afterward disking it will bring the top soil into capillary connection with the subsoil. 196 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. It is not so necessary to get a perfect seedbed in spring sowing as it is when sowing in the fall. There is much more moisture in the spring and heavy rains will probably come to compact the seedbed, yet drouths are to be looked for at any time, so one should do his part well in any case. EHaample of Spring Sowing—Take Woodland Farm, where always of recent years seeding has been done early in April. This farm is about on the 40th parallel, in the latitude of Columbus, O., Phila- delphia and Springfield, Hl. Spring seeding is done here because of the climate and soil. Singularly enough at this pomt on the curve of the earth there seems more fighting of the elements than either north or south of us. At Wooster, O., some 80 miles north of us, snow and frozen ground prevail during a much longer time in winter than with us. Thus at Wooster they find fall seeding of alfalfa a better thing than spring seeding, while we have had very poor success indeed with fall seeding, which usually lifts out of the ground during the repeated freezes and thaws of winter. Disk, Harrow and Drag.—tLand destined for al- falfa is almost always planted to corn the year be- fore and given very clean and careful cultivation. For the corn crop as much manure as was available was applied. The land is plowed in the fall or win- ter if there is time and the soil is found fit. The plows are set to run as deep as practicable. In this practice we are reforming steadily year by year, deepening our soil as fast as we well can. As soon PLOWING THE SOIL. 197 as danger of hard freezing is over, say by April 10, when the land is dry enough to be fit to till, we go afield with disk harrows. The cutaway double disk harrows suit us very well for this purpose. Fol- lowing the disk harrow goes the slant-tooth smooth- ing harrow, which levels the land quite well. After the smoothing harrow goes the plank drag. This makes a smooth surface, free from clods. The drag is made of three planks, about 2x12, lapped together like shingles and bolted together. The drag makes drilling easier and a better seed-bed. Sometimes the fertilizer is sown before the land is dragged, sometimes afterward. This point is not very material. As already described, we commonly sow acid phosphate of about 16 per cent grade, be- cause it is cheaper with us than bone meal or any other carrier of phosphorus. We sow no potash except on black peaty soils, once beds of swamps. Lime we have applied earlier; it is best to have it imcorporated with the soil some weeks or even months before sowing the seed when this is pos- sible. Seeding with Drill—After the drag comes the drill. We use a drill with grass seed attachment that sows both barley and alfalfa seed. The alfalfa seed is sometimes set to fall in front of the drill and sometimes to fall behind, depending somewhat on the nature of the soil. On stiff clay land it will not do to bury alfalfa seed very deep. On lighter looser soils they will come up through an inch of soil. 198 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. The drill is set to sow two bushels of beardless spring barley to the acre. This barley does not stool heavily. It is not a very prolific barley either, but it makes a good nurse crop for alfalfa. The facts that it does not often lodge and does not much shade the young alfalfa are all in its favor. SEEDING AND CUTTING. About 15 pounds of alfalfa seed are sown. We have used more and have used as little as 8 pounds. In the long run there seems little difference in the yield of hay, but on the whole we prefer to use 15 pounds of seed. Work After Seeding—If the land is very dry, we follow the drill with a roller. We seldom do this, however, since there is always danger that rain may follow and further compact the land, making it hard for seeds to get up. We very much prefer to get the under part of the seedbed firm before putting on the seed. We sometimes follow the drill with the plank drag again. We aim always to leave the land quite level and smooth, so that the mower will run nicely. TInoculation.—With us no inoculation is needed, nor was it ever needed seriously on Woodland Farm. Just why this was true we can not imagine except that our father had allowed some few clumps of melilotus to grow and that he had always used a good deal of manure. For some unexplained rea- son manured land is nearly always inoculated with alfalfa bacteria, illogical as the statement seems. Inoculation comes in about a month, little nodules by that time appearing on nearly every rootlet. Further Treatment.—It is seen how easily we (199) 200 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. sow alfalfa, with what slight labor and expense, yet magnificent stands are secured in every instance We have not one record of failure where this system has been followed on Woodland Farm except in a few spots where the barley lodged badly and was not soon enough removed. The further treatment of the field is to let it alone till the barley comes into bloom. Then we go in with mowers and cut it all down and make it into hay. By that time the alfalfa will be needing a clipping. Sometimes we wait till the grain is be- ginning to form in the heads, but usually we take off the barley hay earlier than that. Time to Cut.—The test of when young alfalfa is ready to clip is when the plants put out little buds or shoots down near the ground, at the bases of the stems. It ought never to be clipped before then. After that time it ought to be clipped promptly, as one must not cut off these new shoots with the mower. We have said this before and will repeat it again as the point is so essential to success. Why Make Barley Hay?—Why do we not let the barley ripen its grain? Because if we were to do that it would seriously weaken the young alfalfa. Ripening grain takes a tremendous amount of moisture from the ground. It also not infrequently lodges and this smothers out the young alfalfa. Very little shading or mulching will kill it. So it is better to make hay of the barley. It makes good hay; all animals love it. It is more profitable made into hay than used in any other form. Eee BARLEY AS A NURSE CROP FOR ALFALFA. SEEDING AND CUTTING. 201 Subsequent Cuttings—When the barley is taken away the alfalfa comes vigorously on and makes another cutting in about 40 or 50 days. The time to cut this is judged by the buds or shoots upon the stems, just as at the first. This is in fact the inviolable rule in cutting alfalfa if you would pre- serve its vigor and productiveness. After this cutting it is left strictly alone. No one trespasses again on the alfalfa, no animals graze it, no mower invades its domain. It may be 24 inches high when killing frosts come; no matter; leave it stand and next year you will gain all that and much more with it. Value of Barley Nurse Crops-—Why the nurse crop with spring sowings? First, because there is pretty good profit in beardless barley hay. We feed it to all our animals. The alfalfa has grown about as well for the presence of the barley as it would have grown alone. And the barley rather subdues other annual grasses. There is a curious principle in Nature that some plants are delete- rious to other plants. Cockle burrs, for instance, poison land for corn, and where barley grows well foxtail grass is not so much seen. Then when the barley is taken away the alfalfa seems to push right on, almost unmolested. We can get a much better stand of alfalfa with a nurse crop of beardless spring barley than we can to sow it alone, and we get the barley hay as a clear gift. Other Nurse Crops.—Why not choose oats as a nurse crop? With us they are not nearly as de- 202 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. sirable. When oats are left to ripen their grain a poor stand of alfalfa is almost inevitable. I have often sown oats with alfalfa, mowimg them for hay when in bloom with good results. When oats are sown no more than a bushel of seed should be sown to the acre. If the soil is very rich and the seedbed very good three pecks per acre will be enough seed, or even a less amount. Oats stool much more vigorously than barley and thus thicken up and shade the alfalfa plants too much. Oats must be mown off earlier even than barley to leave good stand of alfalfa. When the little sta- mens begin to hang out from the oat heads then cut for hay at onee. Or if the oats should lodge mow immediately and remove from the ground. Oats make more hay than barley, but it is harder to cure. Flax has sometimes been used as a nurse crop for alfalfa with pretty good success. Alfalfa is sown in wheat successfully in some places. It is absolutely necessary that the land be previously inoculated, or that the inoculating earth be put and harrowed in before the alfalfa is sown, or failure will surely result. It is necessary to harrow the wheat and make a fair seedbed so that the alfalfa seed may be covered. On the whole, wheat is not a good nurse crop for alfalfa, since if the soil is rich it is apt to lodge and smother out the baby plants. Cowpeas, soy beans, rape, Canada field peas, all these things have repeatedly been tried with no SEEDING AND CUTTING. 2038 success whatever. They shade too much and smother out the alfalfa. Fall rye sown in the spring is advocated by a New Jersey man who used it thus nearly 100 years ago. I have not tested it, but have my suspicions. Alfalfa may be sown with corn at the time of last cultivation in July. Thus sown it makes almost a stand, never quite a perfect stand. The corn robs the land a little too much of moisture to allow the alfalfa to get rightly rooted. There is also a little too much shade. Should alfalfa seed ever become cheap again it would pay to sow it in corn for soil improvement, even if it was turned over next year in late May and again planted to corn. Where Are Nurse Crops Permissible?—In Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and probably Iowa and Missouri a nurse crop may be often as good a thing as it is on Woodland Farm. Much depends upon whether it is intelligently used. To sow grain thickly and to let it ripen on the land may very likely prove most injurious to the alfalfa. If a man knows his failings, if he is too greedy to cut the nurse crop at the right time, or too careless, he had better not sow one at all, but sow the alfalfa alone. West of the Missouri River it is usually too dry to permit the use of a nurse crop. South of the Ohio River it is safer and better to sow alone in the fall or mid-summer with no nurse crop. It is most tempting when one sees a magnificent growth of oats or barley on the land to say, ‘‘I must let that ripen; it is too fine to cut down for hay’’; 204 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. and the letting it ripen will usually damage the alfalfa stand about 25 to 50 per cent. I have re- peatedly asked a lady for a half-cup of tea and never in my life found but one who could. give it! All the rest would fill the cup full. So if the reader is one of the few men who ean resolve to cut his nurse crop for hay at the proper time, he should, if he lives in a similar climate to ours, use a nurse crop. Otherwise he should sow alfalfa alone. Fall Seeding of Alfalfa—There seems a large area where fall seeding is more successful than spring seeding. Where fall seeding succeeds it is the cheaper way. The use of the land is not lost for any appreciable time, and often one gets a full crop of some sort of grain before seeding his alfalfa. Northern Ohio seems adapted to fall or rather mid- summer seeding of alfalfa; also New York, in parts at least, a good deal of Pennsylvania and much of Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. In Missouri some practice one way, some another; Kan- sas and Nebraska seem to get good results from fall, or better, mid-summer seeding. In lowa summer seeding is advised. The reason why alfalfa usually thrives when sown in mid-summer or early fall is that then there is less crowding by weeds and especially by annual grass. Furthermore, alfalfa is a heat-loving plant and it pushes rapidly forward if the seedbed is good and it gets started in late July or August. It is very essential that the seedbed be good, and no pains should be spared to make it so. SEEDING AND CUTTING. 205 Spring Plowing and Summer Sowing.—Some have practiced spring plowing of the land and after- ward harrowing it after every rain, after every appearance of weed growth, until all the weed seeds are killed, then sowing the alfalfa alone in July. Usually this results in a good stand. The cost is considerable. No return from the land is had at all for one year and the repeated harrowings cost quite a little. It is one of the surest ways, perhaps, of getting alfalfa started in land very foul with erass and weeds. I do not advise this plan except in cases where it is extremely difficult to get a stand. By harrowing well after each rain nearly all of the moisture is conserved. Thus it is a plan well adapted to use in semi-arid regions where it is not easy to establish alfalfa because of lack of moisture in the soil. In such situations the land should be plowed in the fall and disked after each rain or snow fall and all care possible taken to conserve the moisture that falls. After once the land is moist down to a depth of a foot or more and a thoroughly good seedbed is secured then the alfalfa may be sown, though in such situations it is usually well to defer sowing till August. The state of tilth of soil and the amount of available moisture are more important determining factors, however, than the time of year in dry regions, where alfalfa does not heave out by frost in any event. IT can not from my own experience recommend this plan of seeding for any states in the cornbelt region, since it is an unnecessary expense and no 206 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. more successful, so far as I have seen, than several other less costly plans. Seeding After Early Potatoes.——The land may be plowed early and deep, fitted as soon as it is ready to work and planted to potatoes, choosing some very early maturing variety. There is hardly any better plan than this. The potatoes well repay high manur- ing and fertilization. They should have plenty of phosphorie acid given them; in the eastern states it is common to give early potatoes as much as 500 to 1,000 pounds of high grade acid phosphate per acre; potash also usually tells a good tale when applied to potatoes. Thus if the crop is highly fer- tilized there remains a good surplus in the soil available to the alfalfa. The potatoes well repay good cultivation and thus weeds are destroyed and when the potatoes are dug the land is left clean and thoroughly well loosened up. It is an easy matter then to level it off, disk it well and get ready for alfalfa seeding. This can usually be done in July and as soon as the pota- toes are fit to dig and sell they should come out to make room for the alfalfa, the more important crop of the two by odds. Do not plow the potato land. Disk it very thor- oughly, then disk it again. If the soil is too dry to make alfalfa grow, wait for rain before sowing the seed. Should there come a shower, disk again and wait for a rain that will moisten the underlying soil. There is danger in sowing alfalfa seed in the dust, expecting rain to come and bring it forward. SEEDING AND CUTTING. 207 Rain may come, certainly, but often in only sufficient amount to bring the seed up, or merely to germinate it, and underneath there is dust. Thus the seed- lings perish before they can get their rootlets at- tached to the subsoil. So wait till there is moist soil enough not merely to bring up the seeds but to let their rootlets feed and penetrate on down. Inoculation an Aid.—When sowing alfalfa either in July or August one must remember that the time until fall and killing frosts is short, so do all that he can to hurry it forward. Thus it is well if the land has never had alfalfa on it before, nor ever been manured with manure made from feeding alfalfa hay, te inoculate the soil. Inoculation hastens growth in young alfalfa immensely. Soil from a successful alfalfa field, or soil from a patch of mel- ilotus or sweet clover, or soil from where burr clover grew is usually successful in inoculating al- falfa. The various cultures of beneficent bacteria have not worked well in field practice, we regret to say. So take earth from some other field and inoc- ulate the place you expect to put your new sown alfalfa in. There are various ways of distributing this inoculation. If the soil has been thoroughly well lmed, or is naturally well stored with carbon- ate of lime, and if it has had some manure, iocula- tion will ‘‘take’’ in it and go through the field very rapidly, once give it a start. Seeding—Sow it in any manner most convenient, either through a wheelbarrow seeder or through a drill, taking great care not to drill it in too deep. 208 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. Go immediately over the land with an efficient har- row, trying to cover the seed one inch deep. It is no harm to apply more fertilizer at the time of sowing this seed. It will only push the young plants the more rapidly forward. In Olio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and other states of like chmates this seeding should be done in late July or early August. It is essential to get the plants strongly rooted before winter sets in with its frosts and cold. The stronger the root the less liability to winter killing. Subsequent Treatment.—No clipping, no pastur- ing nor any other treatment should be given the alfalfa this season. Simply let it alone and keep all animals out of it. The only thing that might cause a man to meddle with it would be if he should discover some dodder in the field. This should be destroyed as soon as seen. Pull up the infected plants and burn them. Throw down a little straw on the spot where the dodder has appeared and set it on fire. Dodder is worse than fire to alfalfa. No other weeds will be apt to trouble. If any large, coarse weeds should come up they may be pulled up by hand. There is hardly any better way of starting alfalfa than this if a man has a liking for potatoes. The crop usually pays well for use of the land, and the alfalfa. crop comes on strong and is secured at the least possible expense. Summary.—Summarizing the process of sowing alfalfa after potatoes, the essentials are, first, selec- SEEDING AND CUTTING. 209 tion of good dry rich land, with plenty of lime in it, or else applying liberally of lime before planting. Deep plowing and somewhat high fertilization for the potato crop. Planting as early as practicable of a very early-maturing variety of potatoes. Very careful cultivation that will conserve all possible moisture and destroy the weeds well. Digging as early as possible and immediate prep- aration of the soil for alfalfa. Inoculating when needed with soil from a success- ful alfalfa field or a sweet clover patch and sowing the seed as soon as there is a good seedbed and enough moisture in it. Covering the seed about an inch deep with the harrow. Leaving the alfalfa alone, no matter how high it gets, leaving all the growth to protect it in winter. Fall Seeding After Wheat.—lIt is often desirable to sow alfalfa after a crop of grain. This is prac- tical enough if the season proves not too dry. Al- falfa best follows a crop of winter grain, since that ripens earlier than spring sown grain. Perhaps the worst defect in the practice of following alfalfa after wheat arises from the fact that if the land is as fertile as it ought to be to grow a heavy crop of alfalfa the: wheat is apt to lodge. There are soils, however, so well balanced that they will grow both excellent wheat and heavy crops of afalfa. I have seen in France wheat as high as oxens’ backs, yet not lodged at all, growing on alfalfa sod, and destined to grow alfalfa again in the regular rota- tion. 210 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. Preparation for Crop.—When alfalfa is to follow wheat the land may be well limed in the fall before the wheat is sown, if it is in need of lime. As early as possible the wheat shoeks should be taken off and immediately the plow started in the stubble. Now is a dangerous time, since one may so easily lose his moisture and get instead of a seedbed a mass of sunbaked clods that no harrowing will re- duce to fineness. To avoid this each half day what land is plowed should be fitted by use of harrow and drag, or perhaps use of roller, followed at once by harrow. It is not sufficient to fit each evening what has been plowed during the day, but each half day’s work must be completed within that half day. This is also much the easier way. An hour spent upon freshly turned land will do more than a half day after the furrows have dried out into hard clods. Be not content, either, with a half preparation of the land. Do a good job of it. Use drag, disk and smoothing harrow. Make the earth fine. Seal up in it all the moisture it holds. It is work well spent. Since it must be done in any event it is wise and economical to do it immediately it is plowed, when an hour’s work is worth a half day’s later on. In order to do this best it may be well to let the man who does the plowing work till about 9:30 in the morning, then, unhitching from the plow, hitch to the plank drag and go over what he has plowed with that. Unhitching from it, hitch to the disk harrow, and after disking then go over it with the slant-tooth smoothing harrow, which finishes it pretty well and SEEDING AND CUTTING. 211 effectually seals the land so that no moisture can escape. Of course if several teams are plowing one man may follow steadily with tools for fitting the land. Save the moisture. It is wise not to sow the seed before there is plenty of moisture stored. In this connection the reader should study the preced- ing advice upon summer seeding. Save all the moisture you have and accumulate as much more as you possibly can before sowing the seed. And yet one can not safely delay sowing longer than till about the 10th of August, and if it ean be sown in a good seedbed with sufficient moisture by the first of August all the better. The time of sowing is a local question. In Louisiana one can safely sow the last of October, yet north of the Ohio River late July and early August sowing is much safer than any later sowing. Inoculation in Advance.—lt is well to inoculate the soil for this fall seeding, and the reader is asked to note with care what has been written elsewhere on this subject. One way of getting this inoculation in a wheat stubble is to sow some alfalfa seed in the wheat in March. If 5 pounds are then sown and harrowed in with a sprinkling of inoculating earth, say 100 pounds to the acre, and the soil and seed mixed together, it is probable that a fair growth of alfalfa will result and the inoculation spread throughout the whole land. Then when the land is plowed again and the young alfalfa turned under the inoculation will be spread. Quite a little benefit 212 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. will be seen from the fertilizing effect of the young alfalfa turned under. And further one can judge quite well by the growth of this spring sown alfalfa as to the state of fitness of his land, whether maybe it needs more lime, more drainage or further enrich- ing. The cost need not concern you, since with good inoculation present less seed need be sown in the fall. Indeed 15 pounds of seed sown on a good seedbed well inoculated will give a better stand than will 30 pounds ‘sown on a poorly prepared seed- bed or without good inoculation. Ordinarily it is of no use to sow alfalfa seed with the wheat in the fall. It usually perishes during winter. There are soils and climates, however, where it will succeed fairly well thus sown, and by this means good inoculation could be had. Five pounds of seed to the acre with about 100 pounds of inoculating earth should be sown then. All in all, to sow after wheat is a good prac- tice wherever fall seeding is desired and a soil-build- ing cover crop is not needed to prepare the land for alfalfa growing. The one danger is that there may not be enough moisture stored to give good fall growth. The alfalfa must not be clipped nor pas- tured the fall it is sown. The next year it is cut three or four times, as would be any ordinary alfalfa field. Alfalfa After Spring Barley—Spring-sown grain has some advantages for alfalfa sowing. For one thing the soil is more easily got ready for alfalfa after the grain is removed. Then these grains are SEEDING AND CUTTING. 2138 not so apt to lodge if the soil is rich. Beardless spring barley is particularly appropriate here. It ripens very early and does not often lodge. It is almost impossible to make the soil too rich for spring bar- ley. It is advisable to plow the land for these spring crops and to plow it deep. It is well always to sow a small amount of alfalfa seed with the barley. If it is the custom to sow 20 pounds of alfalfa seed in the fall it will be much better to sow 5 pounds of this in the spring at time of seeding the barley. This will help the inoculation very much indeed and the 15 pounds sown in the fall will give a better stand than would the whole 20 pounds sown at that time. The same rules laid down for sowing after pota- toes and wheat apply with equal force for sowing after spring barley and should be studied. The one trouble with all this scheme is that it pre- supposes a very fertile soil and quite a little rain- fall in late July and August. Given these things one ought to succeed admirably following this plan. Alfalfa After Oats—What has been said of seed- ing after barley applies fairly well to oats. The field should be well plowed in spring. Five pounds of alfalfa seed should be sowed to each acre to: pro- mote inoculation. If no alfalfa has ever grown on the land and inoculation is doubted, soil should also be spread or sown and promptly harrowed un- der. Then the oats if cut off for hay will leave a far better seedbed than if allowed to ripen. Ripen- ing oats draw tremendously on the soil moisture. It is a great help to mow them off for hay when coming 214 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. into bloom. Thus the land may be prepared very much earlier for its destined crop of alfalfa. Alfalfa After Crimson Clover—Where the cli- mate is mild enough to permit its growth crimson clover forms an admirable preparatory crop for fall sown alfalfa. The subject is mentioned in an earlier chapter, but I will here sum up its advantages and manner of use. Crimson clover is an annual. Sown in the late summer it grows during the fall and whenever it can during warm days in winter. It makes very rapid growth in spring, blooms in May, ripens seed and dies. It is not a good clover for for- age unless fed off green. Half ripe crimson clover heads are dangerous when fed to animals, making ‘“hair balls’’ in their stomachs and killing them some- times. A fairly good crop of crimson clover will yield to the soil as much nitrogen as would cost $15 per acre, if one were to purchase it in the bag. It comes off or goes under early enough to make easy the preparation of a good seedbed. There is seldom danger of insufficient moisture when crimson clover is the crop preceding alfalfa, supposing the land to be well managed after the clover is ready to turn under. 7 On the other hand crimson clover does not thrive well without inoculation, and natural inoculation seems absent except along the Atlantic seaboard. Doubtless artificial soil inoculation would result in great gain with this plant elsewhere. Crimson clo- ver provides a great deal of very valuable humus. Mr. Jack’s Use of Crimson Clover.—In eastern SEEDING AND CUTTING. 215 Virginia, under the direction of C. V. Piper, J. M. Westgate and Nicholas Schmitz of the Department of Agriculture, J. F. Jack is sowing what may be well termed an alfalfa ranch. His estate consists of nearly 2,000 acres along the Rappahannock River. When Mr. Jack took this land much of it was in a most impoverished condition. The land is first plowed and planted to corn with 250 pounds per acre of raw bone meal. Sometimes other fertilizers are used. The plowing is deeper and more thorough than the land has ever known before. Next, at last cultivation of corn, crimson clover seed is sown at the rate of about 20 to 30 pounds per acre. A small growing wild hairy clover is found on these fields that probably inoculates the erimson clover and it grows well. In May this erimson clover is knee high all over the fields. Then it is turned under, plowing about 8 inches deep. Lime is put on, either ground limestone at the rate of about 2 to 3 tons per acre or burned lime. Intensive cultivation is given the land till August, the pur- pose being to. store the land with as much moisture as possible. Then men come and sow with hand labor inoc- ulating earth. This Mr. Jack can get from his own farm, though originally he had it shipped to him from sweet clover beds along the Potomac River. Immediately behind the men who distribute the earth walk other men with wheelbarrow seeders and distribute alfalfa seed. Behind these men come 216 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. harrows and almost instantly the seed and inocu- lating earth are covered up. The fertilizer is usu- ally 400 pounds per acre of raw bone meal, though other sources of phosphorus have been used as well. The result is as certain as mathematics. Mr. Jack at Belle Grove gets stands of. alfalfa every time, good, thrifty, healthy, profitable alfalfa. It is very notable, however, that. wherever Mr. Jack has applied a little manure there he gets much stronger crimson clover and much heavier alfalfa as well. It is not yet proved that a man can build successfully very poor soils without manures. Cer- tainly the work is greatly accelerated when manures are available. I have treated at some length the experiences of Mr. Jack because I know of no more impor- tant work being done anywhere in the east. Here one sees land taken in impoverished condition fairly representing millions of acres of farming lands in the older eastern states, unprofitable to farm, worth- less as an investment unless redeemed, and by appli- cation of plain and well tested agricultural prin- ciples brought rapidly into profitable culture again. Mr. Jack’s suecess, doing this work on a large scale and as a business venture, is a lesson in soil build- ing and business methods in farming of illumining importance to the whole farming world. Rate of Seed per Acre.—There are in a bushel of alfalfa seed about 14,000,000 seeds, more or less, according to their size and weight. Thirty pounds to the acre then would put about 160 seeds to the SEEDING AND CUTTING. 2G square foot—something over one seed to each square inch of soil. An alfalfa plant requires about 16 to 25 square inches of space. Thus use of 30 pounds of seed is from 16 to 25 times too much, supposing that each seed dropped made a living plant. When sown in drills one pound of seed is enough for an acre, and seeding in drills will be a practical scheme in America. One pound of seed per acre makes approximately five seeds to each square foot. There ought to be nine plants per square foot to make a good stand on ordinary soil fit for alfalfa growing. That would require two pounds of seed, sown broadcast, if every seed made a plant. The germination of alfalfa seeds is not usually perfect; often with the best seed only about 75 per cent will germinate the first year. And not every seed will be covered right for germination. Thus if we allow half to perish for lack of right planting we will come to a need of four pounds of seed per acre to give an ideally perfect stand. As a matter of fact this amount is often sown. Where one desires to grow alfalfa seed a thin stand is better than a thick stand and four pounds of seed will suffice. Of course one must be sure of his seed- bed and of his seed if he ventures to use so thin a seeding. And he ought to be sure that the land is inoculated. On inoculated soil a thin seeding will give a better stand than a thick seeding will on un- moculated soil. The Ohio experiment station has made an inter- PAKS) ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. esting test of this very matter and the results are herewith reeorded: The Ohio station put out a thick and thin seeding test of alfalfa June 27, 1907, at the rates of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 pounds of seed per acre. The seed was distributed through the grass- seeding attachment of an ordinary wheat drill after repeated and careful testing. It was dropped in front of and covered by the drill hoes. The results of this test thus far appear in the following table: THICK AND THIN SEEDING OF ALFALFA. No. plants | No. plants |Total pounds hay SEED USED PER ACRE. per sq. foot | per sq. foot per acre, 1908 July 31, 1907.| May 2, 1908. (3 cuttings). HA OUMOAS rae seveteris eee tetetsiotolenetete eiaisrastervere riers 13 11 7,862 TOD OWNS isi ctsletelcte seine etter Cialceereiettetel-r= 33 27 8,648 L5YPOUNA Srerrcpotte cater ne cverereieaclevets 45 34 8,678 DOMMOUNOAS TH eecomclteteriesecisisisetcet iia tatectateye 56 44 8,557 DEAD OUNICLS teteeietaistslererercieyeioleresetereneteve(ofotecieretetststses: 70 49 7,876 It will be noted that the maximum yield was harvested from the plot receiving 15 pounds of seed per acre, but that 10 pounds of seed gave within 30 pounds of as large a yield of hay per acre. The yield from 20 pounds of seed is somewhat lower than from 10 and 15 pounds, and the yield from 25 pounds decidedly lower, exceeding the yield from 5 pounds by an insignificant amount. It should be stated that 5 pounds of seed per acre proved a little light in so far as holding the weeds in check is concerned. If a few large weeds had not been removed from this plot it would have presented a somewhat ragged appearance. This being done the quality of the alfalfa was as satisfactory as on any plot. This ground was in ideal condition for alfalfa when seeded, having been plowed some eight weeks previous and harrowed at intervals of 10 to 20 days until seeded. Under such conditions 10 to 15 pounds of seed per acre would seem to be enough. It is to be doubted whether more than 15 pounds of alfalfa seed per acre is needed in this state when a good seed bed is prepared, and it is surely cheaper to prepare such a seed bed than to buy alfalfa seed to waste among clods, or in a loose, dried out soil. As a matter of experience extending over many years I advise the use of 15 to 20 pounds of seed for ordinary soils and under ordinary conditions. SEEDING AND CUTTING. 219 While it is true that this gives a good many more plants than are needed, yet these will crowd each other out in time and about enough will survive to make an ideal stand. An extra alfalfa plant is simply a weed in the field, but it is the best weed that can be selected, and it undoubtedly deters the growth of other weeds to a greater or less extent. Thick Fall Seeding Wrong.—Men have sown as much as 40 pounds of seed to the acre in the fall. This is a serious error. The plants standing so thick- ly, more than 200 of them to the square foot, so erowd each other that they can not grow as they ought, and so no root gets strong as it should before the winter sets in. The result is that the frost lifts and destroys a large percentage of them all. With half the seed sown and stronger plants more would have been alive in the spring. Curiously enough the better the land is adapted to alfalfa growing the fewer plants an acre of it will earry. | have seen wonderful alfalfa meadows with no more than 40,000 or 50,000 plants to the acre. Each root, however, had many stools and stems, a hundred perhaps or more from the one root. Sowing the Seed.—lIf the seed is sown on freshly harrowed land it is best. The seedbed should be firm, well worked down, yet freshly stirred. Thus the seed stick wherever they happen to strike and do not roll around or get in bunches. The manner of distribution is not very essential. Perhaps the most even distribution is had by the wheelbarrow seeder. Any of the commercial seed sowers on the market 220 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA, will do good work in capable hands. An end gate broadcast seeder that may be attached to any wagon will do good work. It may be sown by hand if the operator understands seed sowing, or it may be sown with a drill, letting the seed fall behind or in front of the hoes, according to circumstances and the con- dition of the ground. The aim is ultimately to cover the seed an inch or about an inch deep. The harrow may follow the sower and finish the covering. Prob- ably for this purpose the common slant-tooth smoothing harrow is the best implement. When seed and inoculating soil are applied together, the drill or fertilizer distributer is the best implement to use. Drilling in the Seed—The American Seeding Ma- chine Co. has developed a drill that will sow alfalfa seed accurately in rows 6” apart, putting it in at any desired depth. J have seen alfalfa sown with one of these machines, with 20 pounds of seed to the acre, that was at least 10 times too thick. Itis evident that with a perfect seedbed and a proper alfalfa drill one need sow no more than 5 pounds of seed to the acre. This means a fine seedbed, firm underneath, level and smooth. The saving of seed would pay for all the labor of preparing the seedbed and the resultant thrift of the alfalfa would be very fine to see. This machine will drill in 4 pounds of seed to the acre, and to a required depth. Alfalfa with Red Clover for Inoculation.—When- ever it is suspected that alfalfa may be adapted to a soil and red clover is to be sown there in the reg- SEEDING AND CUTTING. 221 ular rotation, alfalfa should be mixed with the clover seed. If 10 per cent of alfalfa seed is used it will be enough to give a good sprinkling of alfalfa plants and later a thorough inoculation of the land. How this inoculation comes we do not know. Certain it is that when alfalfa is sown on suitable soil, dry and with lime enough, it becomes inoculated in a year or two by natural means. Thus two things are ac- complished: One gets a good general idea of the suitability of the soil to alfalfa and he gets it in- oculated so that when a little later he sows alfalfa alone it assuredly grows strong from the start. Furthermore, the mixture of red clover and alfalfa is a good mixture anyway. It makes more hay and more pasture than red clover pure. It en- riches the soil more efficiently. Alfalfa is nearly as easily established as red clover. If sown with oats or if the wheat is harrowed to let the seed be covered it is certain to make a pretty good stand mixed in this way. Red Clover with Alfalfa.—On the other hand, some men practice sowing red clover with alfalfa. They claim that with the addition of about 20 per cent of red clover seed to the alfalfa they get a heav- ier yleld of hay the first year following the seeding and the next year pure alfalfa results which outyields adjoining fields or plots that have had no red clover in them. That is, the decay of the red clover roots, they assert, enriches the soil for the alfalfa. This is said of some soils in Pennsylvania. In my own experience this is not a very good practice, since 222 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. it leaves the alfalfa a little thin on the ground after the clover has died out, but I have not tried it more than once or twice. Alsike Clover and Alfalfa.-—These sow well to- gether and make wonderful forage either for soiling, feeding off for pasturage or for hay. It is best, of course, to call it an alsike field and treat it as though no alfalfa were sown in it, since the alfalfa is much more permanent than the alsike. Alsike, however, is in some soils more permanent than red clover and will sometimes last as long as four or five years. It does not cut more than one, or at most two, crops of hay ina year. Some of the loveliest pasturage the writer has ever seen has been a mixture of alsike clover, alfalfa and smooth brome grass, INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. Many once deep, dark mysteries are now cleared up so that we smile at what once made men despair. Alfalfa growing was once as deep a mystery as any one could name. Sown in Colorado, Utah or Cali- fornia alfalfa thrived from the start almost. Sown m Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky or New York it often failed. When it lived it was for some months or a year or more a feeble, unhappy, sickly plant. After a time perhaps it recovered and made wonderful growth. Why This Difference?—Why should it behave so differently in different regions? Of course there are several answers to this query. One is that some soils are filled with lime and phosphorus, are dry and filled with air. Alfalfa loves such soils. But the other and more hidden and mysterious reason is that of the nitrifying bacteria that help alfalfa grow. These bacteria are naturally present in some soils. They live on more species of legumes than alfalfa alone. Burr clover (Medicago arabica or Medicago denticulata) carries the same inoculation, uses the same bacteria. So does sweet clover or melilotus. Doubtless there are other wild legumes growing in western arid soils that use the same bac- teria. On the other hand, in eastern soils these bac- teria were absent almost altogether. One of the best illustrations of the lack of inoculat- (228) 224 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. ing bacteria was seen in Christian County, Kentucky. A field of good limestone soil was well enriched and sown to alfalfa in the fall. A fine stand re- sulted and I visited it the next spring, some time early in May. The alfalfa was short, stunted, of yel- low color, clearly destined to be a failure. Careful search revealed no nodules on the roots. One bunch of thrifty alfalfa was in the middle of the field, another at one edge, near where had stood a negro’s eabin. I dug up these plants and found abundant inoculation, the nodules being plentiful. I dug out the soil around these spots and threw it over the field. Rains distributed the bacteria still further, so that in a year the whole field was inoculated and yielded a heavy crop of hay, about six tons to the acre. Tne land had been well lmed. Vital Relation of Bacteria—What is the vital re- lation between bacteria and alfalfa? I make no pretense to exact scientific knowledge on this ques- tion. As near as I understand it the case is about as follows: Alfalfa is a legume. All or nearly all leguminous plants are aided in their growth by bac- teria that associate themselves with the plants, living on the roots or on the rootlets. With plants using these bacteria existence without them is precarious and often impossible. Securing Nitrogen.—The problem of fertility, of production of plants, of crop yield is a curious one. Some elements going to make up plants are mineral; these we find in the ash of plants.