The Holly chieftain., 1897-02-12
Eow to lrrIgaee For AifaIfu.
by D. +, s1uA..r, oHsnL,S, ONO.

After the land has been grad. d. aI,'
immediately before sowing the seed
the land should be copionsly irrigate...
Irrigation at this st .se serv.s a ihr.e-
fold purpose: W II reveals The high
spo's, il any remain, and these shouIa
he worked down and irrigated. A.
soon thereafter as the ground will bear
working the seed sho,li be sown. (2)
Irrigation before seeding i'sures III.
prompt and complete termination of lhe
seed. Th's is u point of vital impor-
tance, for without dense and uniform
siaLd Of plants il is no, possible to make
a hign quality OF alfalfa nay. ii line
s,aud is thin Oh the ground the stalk.
Will be coarse. woody, ana ind gestibl-.
and in curing the leaves Will Grv and
fell of before the stems are sufficient,
Cared. But if the stand is thick til.
stems vii! he fine, and the f,l.uge will
be 20 abundant that the curing process.
can be affected without perceptible los,
Of leaves.
In starting alfalfa, l AM aware that
the universal practice is To trus, to tn.
tickle and scanty showers for moisture,
or, in the absence oftliese, to sheer luck.
doubtless now and then ia fairly salts.
fac,ury stand is secured in this way. ]
followed this system myself during .h.
earlier years Of my experience as al
alfalfa grower, Iu Montana. with the re.
suit that fully one hall my efforts result.
ed in flat failuEes, while ] never, IN q
single instance, attained to degree oi
success comparable with that which
realized uniformly afler l began to irri-
gate before seeding. Judging from an
observation of alfalfa fields in several Of
the arid states, am forced 10 believe
| that the great majority Of alfalfa grow
ers are practically ignorant of what
constitutes strictly first, Lass stand oil
| alfalfa. And this because the system OF
seeding in vogue is one which depends
for its snccess upon combination OF
favorinc conditions which rarely hap
pens.
A third advantage secured by irriga'
ton before seeding is tliat it supplies
the earth NTH II reservoir of moisture
sufficient to sustain the Plants in ur-
checked and vigorous growth until they
are strong enough to bear irrigation
without injury. The critical time with
alfalfa is the first six weeks of its
growth. Flooding during this period is
quite certain to give the plants back
set from which they never fully recover
before the second or somtimes not un, il
the third year. And it is not often ,hn
in the arid states the rain Ills sufficient
frequency to dispense with the necessity
for irigating the plants during this
period. By soakirg the earth before
seeding however the plants will make
iporous growth until they are 10 to IL
inches high after which they may be
irrigated with safety. Under this system
l never failed to make TWO crops the
first season aggregating perhaps a ton
| and ha to the acre in two cuttings
provided the seeding was done not later
than the goth of May. From the frs,
crop of the second season onward the
yield was fullaedged.
Alfalfa should not be sown until dan
ger of hard frost is past. ] have seen
very young alfalfa survive frost. and
have seen it completely destroyed by
it, 1t is not prudent TO take the risk
A point scarcely second in Importance
to that Of irrigation before seeding is
that of burying the seed to sufficient
and uniform depth. For this purpose
know of nothing equal to the press
drills, although any good drill will I'M
swer. The BEE d should be put into the
grain box and run down the spouts
But with the drill. great care must be
taken not to bury the seed too deep, for
too deep seeding is quite M fatal to sue
cess as too shallow. A depth of two
inches about right. Whatever imple-
ments may be used for covering the
seed, it should be followed by the plank
,'rag to smooth snd COMPACT tho surface
Whentbe drill is used, 20 pounds of seed
should he sown per acre, but if broad.
casted. 81 pounds should be used
Great care should be exercised in the
selection of seed to see that the grams
are plump and healthy, aud that 1t j,
scrupuiuus,y clean. Hit contains many
shrunken seeds reject it. fer if they
spiing at NIL they will produce only
puny, worthless plants.
After alfalfa has become established
a single copious irrigation after each
cutting will ordinarily be sufficient. lr'
rigation before cutting is undesirable
because it leaves the earth 50 soft as to
interfere with the movement of loads
We do not need more laws. but We
need the present laws enforced. The
statute books are loaded now, and to add
more laws but makes more loop bt lie.