Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1900-01-20
4 aREArwEs7ERn CROP.
Growing Alfalfa In Knnsas-Useful
Hints For Many Sections.

Growing Alfalfa In Knnsas-Useful
Hints For Many Sections.
Alfalfa is essential to the cheapest
production IN KtENsas OF beef, pork.
milk and the rapid growth of young
animals. Alfalfa is our best soil en-
richer. bringing up plant food to the
surface soil from greater depths than
any Other. crop plant grown in Kansas.
1t seems imperative, then, that every
Kansas farmer should grow alfalfa if
possible, yet we find but little Of it
grown in eastern Kansas.
Alfalfa will not grow on wet land
nor where rock comes near the surface.
It isseasiest grown where the subsoil is
rich and porous, but good crops shave
been harvested many years in success
sion on land undertake with as tough
and hard subsoils as there are in the
state. A successful alfalfa grower Of
wide experience said that any land
which will produce good corn regularly
and on which cottonwood trees do well
is good alfalfa land. This is a fairly
safe guide.
In eastern Kansas. owing to many
years of cultivation and a good rain
fall, the land is weedy, The usual ex-
perience is as follows: Ground thor
oughly prepared in the spring. seed
Immediately put in. q good stand and
rapid early growth; in September "a
field with some alfalfa and a perfect
stand Of foxtail; next spring no alfalfa
or only half a stand.
AS a rule, we have found that the
successful alfalfa growers in eastern
Kansas have started to prepare the
ground a year before sowing the seed.
They plant the land intended for alfal-
ia in corn or some other cultivated
crop. They cultivate thoroughly and
keep the land free from weeds. The
following spring oats Or some other
crop that can be taken off early is put
in, and as soon as this crop is harvest
ed the ground is Immediately plowed
and thoroughly narrowed. 1t is then
narrowed or cultivated about once in
every ten days until the fall rains
come. The narrowing has a double
effect. 1t keeps a constant succession
Of weeds starting. only to be destroy
ed, and it causes q rapid formation in
the soil Of the nitrogen compounds es-
sential to the growth of the young al
falfa plants. Late in August or early
in September. as early as the ground
has been well wet, the alfalfa is sown.
It may be put in broadcast. A better
way is to mix equal quantities by
measure of bran and alfalfa seed, drill
and crossdrill, sowing half the seed
each way. II the season is favorable,
the growth Of the alfalfa will be good
through the fall, and a good hay crop
viii be secured the following year. If
the ground does not get thoroughly
wet in the fall, do not SOW, but SOW
the following spring and after the al
falfa gets four to six inches high cut
every ten days or two weeks, whether
the weeds are bad or not, with a now
er set as high as possible.
IA crop Of soy beans raised for seed is
better than a grain crop to raise just
before seeding t alfalfa. The beans if
planted early can be taken off in time
to sow the alfalfa, and the alfalfa can
be put in without blowing the ground.
Alfalfa does not want q nurse crop. 1t
+-rl EL#
. does not want to be put in loose. fresh
ly plowed ground. The ground should
become settled after blowing and just
the surface made loose before planting.
Deep blowing and thorough narrowing
are needed, but the ground should set
tie before seeding. Alfalfa should not
!, be pastured for the first two years.
:. We have found many farmers who
, have failed with alfalfa who have GU
|, 1t for hay just as they would clover
!. after the field had passed full bloom,
In some cases this alone is sufficient to
ruin the crop. Alfalfa should be cut in
early bloom, and it is better to make
the first cutting in the spring before
i two-thirds of the plants come in bloom.
Z On the college farm in adry eason we
have seen the first crop cut when al
this stage, followed by a heavier sec
! ond crop and q good third crop, while
that left to be cut like clover was moi
ready much before the second cutting
!. of the early cut and yielded no hay aft
g| er the first cutting.-H. N. Cottrell
4 Kansas Experiment Station.