The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-09-02

IL Ju6 SOIL Is lacking IN lime, use
ton per acre of air-slacked lime
spread broadcast.
1t is of the utmost Importance that
alfalfa should develop root tubercles
for the purpose of gathering nitrogen
from the air, yet on many soils where
it is grown for the first time not
trace of a tubercle can be found and
the plant languishes unless fertilized
with nitrogenous fertilizers.
A good dressing of stable manure
helps in the formation of root tuber-
cles and little mother earth" from
an old alfalfa field which is known to
contain tubercle forming bacteria, will
assist in the same manner. If neither
stable manure nor mother earth" are
used nor any nitrogenous fertilizers,
the crop will not do well unless the
soil is naturally rich. 1t may take
some patience and perhaps more than
one attempt before success is attained,
but it is worth several attempts if
thereby the crop may be grown sue
cessfully.
Fertilization with potash and phos-
phoric acid should be continued every
year, but nitrogenous fertilizers may
be discontinued as soon as the plant
demonstrates that it is gathering nj
trogen from the air and this is practi-
cally demonstrated when the tubercles
are found on the roots.
THE AFTER-oARE OF THE CROP.
To get a good stand of alfalfa does
not assure one of continued success.
The time of cutting is of considerable
Importance with reference to the per-
manent health of the plant.
Many farmers wait too long before
cutting. One North Carolinian tells
me that he cuts his crop three times a
year, but complains that it does not
do well. IF he cut it five times a year
it would do better.
1t is a good rule to cut when one
tenth of the heads are in bloom. An
other rule is to cut every 35 or 40 days
from April to October.
If a severe drought comes and the
crop blooms while still small, cut it.
Cut whether large or small when it
commences to bloom.
If the cutting is too long delayed
the leaves turn to a yellowish green
color and the general appearance is
unhealthy. If the weather is too rainy
to save a crop when it should be cut
and if the farmer has no silo in which
to save it, it is better to cut it and use
it as a fertilizer on adjacent fields
than to let it get old and go to seed.
After the plants are two or three
years old they are benefited by good
narrowing in the spring and even af-
ter each cutting.
Alfalfa should not be pastured the
first year of its growth and some
writer's say it should not be pastured
at all, but that is going too far. 1t
| is one of the best of all pasture plants
if fields are arranged so that stock can
be turned from one field to another
every week or oftener and are allowed
to come back to the same field every
fourth or fifth week. As regard dan
ger of bloat to cattle and sheep that
are grazed on it, it may be said that
alfalfa like many other crops is some
what dangerous if not understood, yet
I have seen sheep Craze on it all sum-
mer without any loss. When the ami
NAL is first turned on alfalfa he should
have a full stomach and thus have
room for very little. Let this be done
several successive days, leaving the
animal little longer each day, and
he will soon get accustomed to it and
eat it without danger. Bloat will oc-
cur if a hungry animal is turned on
green alfalfa, and particularly if the
plants are wet.
With horses and hogs, however,
there is no danger from 1T either wet
or dry, and there is nothing they will
eat with greater avidity.
1t is stated by some writer's that
the presence of much iron in the soil
is fatal to alfalfa, but the writer
knows nothing about this from expe-
rience.
A. D. McNAIR,
Supt. Experimental Farm.
Southern Pines, N. @.