The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-16

l fed alfalfa to hogs and used 1t with sue | cess. Alfalfa seems to grow best on 9 prairie soil He advised, however. that | the farmer not plant alfalfa in soil that | does not produce more than one and a l half tons of Johnson grass to the acre. | He said that he had entered into core | spondence with farmers all over the State l and found that notable success mad been made with alfalfa in the western part
 of the State. Creek botons, which are not overlaid with sand, he declared to l be the best soil he knew of for the raIs- ing of alfalfa and that next to this soii, the light grey prairie was best. A lime
 soil is undoubtedly needed for best re- | suits and he advised that if the lime was not natural in the soil, to supply it. Moisture. he added, seemed to be espe- cially needed and that the more sand you have, the less chance there is for success with tho grass, although he said If land could be found that was sandy and at the same time moist, 1t would Oe
 good soil.
 The principal causes of failure with al- l falfa, he said, were weeds-that Is Jonn- son grass.
 He thought that the best preparation | for Alfalfa was the sowing after two l crops providing the land Is rich. If the land is not rich then pea vines should be | added.
 Professor Duggar then spoke of some of | the plant enemies of alfalfa and sug- | gested some ways to exterminate them. | He said he thought 1t best for rain to in- ] tervene between the preparation of the
 soil and the sowing of the seed. Plant
 ing, he said. should not be made before | the 10th of October, in the fall. After | alfalfa Is a year old, it will stand severe cold. He has seen 1t unhurt in Colorado where the temperature of the weather
 was g degrees below zero. Poole Sent Out Seed. Hon. R. R. Poole, Commissioner of | Agriculture of Alabama said that he had sent out to the farmers throughout | the State, packages of alfalfa. He said
 that he received calls for more seed from | nearly everywhere he sent 1t. He also
 stated that in reply to his inquiries as to
 the success obtained. that the seed plant
 ed in the fall was killed while that sowed in the spring made good stand. He | also said that in the counties where the lime land was general, the result was ! better than in others
 The strength of alfalfa was then dis cussed and 1t was shown by several | statements of the members of the Asso- | citation that alfalfa Is able to hold it's own against Johnson grass. Professor Dugger in reply to a question as to how soon in the spring alfalfa should be planted. said that between the 20th of February and the 1st of March
 was the best time for sowing, fn his opin- ion.
 At this point, President Cary asked the
 members what they thought about hold ing a night session. He said he was afraid they might not be able to get
 through with all the work today.
 It was decided not to hold a night ses-
 sion on account of the Montgomery Coun- ty members of the Association who had
 to start for home early. The president then announced that the meeting would close this afternoon in time for all those who wish to take the train for Auburn to do so. An auction sale of sixty head of registered Hereford cattle will take place there tomorrow and some of the members of the Association wish to at tend the sale.
 Houghton Talks of Beef.
 The next paper on the program was entitled My Experience in Raising Beef Cattle" by M. B. Houghton, prominent stock raiser of Montgomery County and President of the Montgomery County Agricultural Association.
 The paper was well received by the members and was valuable one in view of the fact that 1t was d declaration of practical experience and not theoreti
 cal treatise of the subject
 Mir. Houghton said he had learned a
 great deal about stock raising since he
 went into it some years ago He en1-
 phasized the necessity of procuring full
 blooded registered cattle at the first to be
 successful. His stock he said, were in
 good condition and that as a pecuniary venture 1t was a success with him. aSkad Mir fOu
 what area of land was needed for pastur- ing stock. Mir. Houghton said that where | the ground was we'll covered by bermuda | three small cattle could be well accom- | modated on an acre.
 Raising Sheep. After the discussion of MT. Houghton' s paper had ended. J. s. Kernachan of | Florence one of the most prominent
 stock raisers in Alabama, spoke enter
 tainingly for short time on My Expe-
 rience in Raising Sheep"
 1 MT Kernachan has had eleven years
 experience in the business of sheep rais- ing. He bought six ewes when he start | ed. He now has 1O6 old sheep and sold last year $40 worth of lambs. He also
 stated that he had sold enough wool each | wear to pay the expense of keeping and
 feeding his sheep. He said that he
 bought a full blooded buck every year.
 He said that at first, his mules used to
 kill his young lambs. but that such an | occurrence now was very rare.
 The subject of sheep raising was then
 discussed at length by the members of ] the Association.
 President Cary. in discussing the ques-
 tion said that the feeding of the sheep
 was an important point to be considered. | He cited an instance of a stock raiser
 near Mobile whom he asked what market ! he found for his sheep. The man replied
 that he found hardly any market for l them in Mobile. He asked the man if 1 he fed his sheep and he said no. In the
 same query to a Montgomery County
 stock raiser, he received an affirmative | answer to both questions.
 The meeting adjourned until o'clock | this morning.
 | A cordial invitation is extended to all
 interested in farming and like stock, to | be present.
 | Mapv Drouinant faDnarS and stock