Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-09-11

crop for Texas? Do you know of any person
who Is cultivating it in this state? If you know
Of such person please give name and address, IN
order that the many of our interested citizens
nav sprly 10 him for inform alton as to how the
rroo mans ont! It seems to me that Texas ought
70 he able 70 grow almost anything that they
low in California. Have the goodness to give
rs through The GAZETTE, at some convenient
season, an article on the culture and manage
ment of alfalfa u - "i"N'
Waco, Tex.
Alfalfa is q kind of clover known to
botauists as MedicGgo saliva. 1t has
long been cultivated in England, and
Tor q considerable time in the United
states. under the name OF lucerne. AL
falfa seems to be name peculiar to CAL
iforuia-we never heard of II by that
name until we heard of alfalfa as crop
on the Pacific slope. AS TO whether or
NOT il would succeed in Texas to profit
able extent is a question we are at pres
emf unprepared to answer from personal
knowledge. II would seem that IN some
sections Of our state, at least, all the
conditions exist that make it a telling
success in other parts Of the world,
therefore one can work up no good rea-
son whv Texas might not add alfalfa TO
her already long list of paying crops. II
anv of our Texas readers know of efforts
nj growing alfalfa they might confer
favor by giving Us particulars for publ
cation,
The best authorities on alfalfa culture
nut down the plants as living, under ia
vorable conditions, from eight to fifteen
wears: that is, piece of land once seeded
TO alfalfa will not require reseedIug short
of that length of time. The regular red
clover soon runs out, but alfalfa does
not.
Alfalfa has quite a wide range as TO
climate, having been grown with consid-
cradle success as far north as New York,
though warm climate suits it best. 1t
furthermore well suited to dry eli.
mates, withstandlng drouth much better
than ordinary clover. This popularity
is what causes it TO be so much relied on
in California and other portions of the
far West.
The best soil for alfalfa is soil of
light sandy loan character with a some
what open subsoil. In some cases its
top roots have been known to go down
many feet Nevertheless alfalfa has
been very successfully grown on stiff
clay soil. Getting the crop set in such
soil is more difficult than in more open
soil, and when set it does not so well
withstand the effects of drouth on ac-
count of the top root not extending SO
far into the ground.
For putting in a crop of alfalfa the
land must be deeply pulverlzed. Sow
the seed at the rate of fourteen pounds TO
the acre, if by drill, or twenty pounds to
the acre if brOudcasted. Brush in light
" and then roll the surface with heavy
roller, particularly if the season should
not be so good as 10 do away with all
chances of succeeding drouth. Al
Or for
putting in the crop, provided always
that it IS not one liable to be soon fol-
lowed by severe drOuth or severe cold.
Alfalfa should be cut as soon as the
blossoms begin TO open; if left longer the
stalks incline to grow tough to q serious
damaging of the hay. Great care must
be exercised in curing and handling as
hay, else the leaves will become broken
off leaving only a mass of bare stalks.
AS feeding stuff alfalfa is now being
classed almost entirely on q level with red
clover. During single season it furn-
ishes large amount of nutritious green
forage, relished by ell kinds of stock. 1t
should be fed partially wilted or mixed
with hay or straw. In the dry regions of
the West it IS much used for pasture, es-
pecially in the fall, but there is more or
less danger that it will cause the cattle to
bloat or that the plants will be killed by
close pasturing. Cattle. sheep and horses
relish alfalfa hay and seem to thrive on it.
Chemical analyses and digestion expe-
riments show that alfalfa compares very
favorably with any green feed that might
be pitted against it. 1t may be used
either as q milk producer or as a flesh
producer. But to work it into we'll
balanced and economical ration il should
--ssI t1,;, .1,1..,
as corn. wheat screenings, cotton seed or
meal, wheat bran, root crops, etc. 1t
contains q relatively large proportion of
carbohydrate, hence the quantity of cot
ton seed meal or wheat bran added to the
ration might be made comparatively
small.
Most of the information offered in this
article Is picked from a bulletin recently
issued by the United States department
Of agriculture. The same document
claims for alfalfa many advantages as,
IN when established it does not soon
run out; (2) il withstands drOuth better
than red clover or almost any other crop;
(3), it grows rapidly and may be ready
for the first cutting very early in the
season; a., it gathers nitrogen from the
cir, and is therefore valuable as fer
tilizing agent; o., il furnishes several
heavy crops OF green forage or hay in
each season; o., when properly cured it
makes hay not inferior to that of red
clover; a, it is relished and well-di-
Eested by all farm animals; ~ , it makes
muscle rather than fat, and is therefore
most valuable TO use as q ration IN asso-
citation with the usual fst-producing
foods.
We have had considerable experience
with alfalfa in some of the Southern
states east of the Mississippi river, but
none in Texas. One season we distrib-
uted large quantities of seed among the
farmers for test. For ourselt we made
the crop succeed reasonably well, but
our testers did not, as q rule, seem to do
much good with it. Manly the trouble
seemed to lie in the very delicate start
that il makes. Through the first season
after planting its start appears SO deli
cate aud spindling that most persons
would be apt to consider it failure, and
TO pillow up the ground for some other
crop. All trying alfalfa should wait for
the second year, TO see what it Is going
TO do-you can't safely Judge of it from
appearance in the first season.