Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-09-17
FARM AND GARDEN.
MORE ABOUT ALFALFA-ITs Gull
TURE AND VALUE AS A HAY CROP
A LETTER FROM JOHN SHIRLEY
WARD.

A LETTER FROM JOHN
WARD.
To the Union and American:
ARCADIA RANCH, NEAR SON BER-
NARDIs, CALIFORNIA, Sept. Z, 1874
Before 1 had read my letter Jon alfalfa"
and your comments thereon, in the UNION
n AMERICAN Of the 10th ult., letters
began to reach me from Tennessee remit
ting postage for packages Of Alfalfa seed
and asking full particulars as to planting,
etc. We paid 19c. gold per ID. for seed by
the thousand pounds, and it is asking too
much for us to ship four pounds of seed to
each applicant, without any consideration.
Those who wish seed will please remit
twenty-five cents currency per pound, and
postage at the rate of eight cents per
pound, andI will furnish the sacks and at
tend 10 the mailing. This will simply
keep me about even.
Now a few words in reference to the
growth and curing of Alfalfa. In CalifOr-
MIA almost any kind of land which has
sufficient moisture will grow AlfalfaE the
black adObelands, however, are not so good
as the sandy loom lands.
On the light sandy lands of this country,
il is not even necessary to pillow the land
before sowing, as it is often grown with
success where the surface is clean, by simply
sowing it on top of the ground and cover
ing with a very light harrow.
II l0jU not bear deep cOUering. If the
land is very mellow a shower of rain will
sometimes cover it sufficiently to make the
seed terminate and grow.
: If you design to raise seed, in the main,
eight to ten pounds of seed per acre should
be sown, but if for hay or grazing, from
sixteen to twenty pounds should be sown
. pei acre.
The young plants are very tender until
they have from four to six leaves, and then
they are able to Withstand a considerable
amount Of cold and drought.
The roots of Alfalfa have been known to
penetrate the earth here as deep as twenty
feet, and they grow to be a half inch in
diameter. After the crop is one year old,
it draws its nutrition from a soil too far of
to be utilized by any otheTerop, and hence
Alfalfa grows well in places where poor
sand has been deposited on a rich soil.
Alfalfa should he mown Just as it is get
ting into full bloom, and should be Taked
and stacked just as soon as it will bear
housing, without danger Of moulding.
Like all other kinds of hay, It should be
cured as green as possible. Alfalfa hay
when stacked will not turn water like oats,
timothy and barley, so we advise those who
intend sowing it to put it in the barn as
soon as it is cured.
HiU It bear grazing ! Many farmers in
the country have thought that close grazing
would kill Alfalfa, but M ~seven-acre
patch has been grazed for eleven years as
closely as sheep could Craze it, and yet it
will yield ten tons Of hay per mum
Such a fact is worth more than all the
theories on this question.
As We depend entirely on irrigation
here, l cannot say how Alfalfa Will grow
in your State; yet ! think with your fire.
quent showers and moist lands, you may
be able to make it a success.
The time Of So1riBg. In Tennessee the
seed should be sown in the early spring,
say just as the danger of killing frosts has
disappeared. 1t might be SOW in the
early autumn in time to get root before the
cold weather begins. Some of these days
when this e~cerIGSting and euer-grO,ring
Alfalfa will give me a little rest, l may
write you something in connection with
''Alfalfa and Sheep Husbandry." Yours
truly, JOHN SHIRLEY WARD.
p. 81 shall hereafter refer all enquir-
ers in reference to Alfalfa culture to tins
letter. j. 5. w.
Oar agricultural readers are to be
congratulated IN the opportunity pre-
sented To obtain so valuable seed as
alfalfa at a price so moderate and rea-
sonable. We have paid forty cents a
pound for similar seed lucernl i'm
ported from Europe. Twenty-Five cents
a pound for seed, and eight for postage,
will bring alfalfa almost to the doors
of the farmers of the South at thirty.
three cents a pound. Ten pounds of
seed to the acre will be equal to sowing
a bushel of common clover seed on SIX
acres, which most farmers will regard
as pretty thick seeding.
Many call alfalfa burr clover
as it belongs to the same family
AT ten pounds to the acre, it will cost
but three dollars and thirty cents tc
seed an acre to this perennial clover
which has several advantages
over our biennial or common red Glover
In Europe the plant has stood the test
Of experience as long as wheat, oats
or barley, and in the Spanish settle.
ments of North and South America
for 800 years. Raising alfalfa seed i.
likely to be profitable in Tennessee.