Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1905-02-15
MORE AECUT ALFALFA.

MORE ABcUT ALFALFA.
Xa have several inquiries about al
Ialfa-when and how 10 SOW. the sort
of soil best suited to il. whether to SOW
with Il nurse crop or SOW in the fall or
in the spring, whether the frosts in
the northern part of the country kills
it out and why this legume is not more
generally grown through the corn belt.
In a general way we have answered
many of these inquiries before. but in
asmuch as there is more interest being
taken in the growth of alfalfa than any
other new crop ever tried within the
limits of the corn belt we give some
what extended review of the plant and
the possibilities of its growth. Alfalfa
is one OF the oldest plants known to
man. In Europe it passes under the
name of lucern, or German clover. 1t
is a perennial and under favorable con
ditions has been known to live for as
long as forty-hve years. 1t possesses
some peculiar and distinctive character
istics, one the remarkable rapidity with
which it will reproduce itself when cut.
from four to five crops year being
easily obtainable under the best condi-
lions. 1t carries the largest per cent of
protein of any plant grown, save the
soy bean, and more nearly than any
other plant available will enable the
farmer in the corn belt to prepare
perfectly balanced ration for all of the
stock Oh his farm. Its roots penetrate
very deeply into the ground. seek ing
permanent moisture. which renders it
almost Indifferent to the effect of ordi
nary droughts. Being a egume, it pos
sesses in high degree the property of
enriching the soil in which it grows.
While great success has been made
of the growing of alfalfa in nearly all
of the territory west of the Missouri
river clear to the Pacific, for some rea-
son failure has largely attended an
effort to grow it east of the Missouri
through the great area of the corn belt
The reason of this is now determined
to be the lack of proper, soil inocula
ton or the absence of the bacterial life
necessary to the growth of the plant.
When sown on soil barren of this bac-
terra it almost invariably failed, but
the last two years have demonstrated
that when the soil is properly inoculat-
ed it may be grown with success al
most anywhere through the corn belt.
OF the value of this plant too much
cannot be said, especially for the dairy
man and the hog raiser At the
uynrt6'S fair alfalfa hn oil q.
large part of the rations fed to the
cows which took part in the 100 day
| test, and whenever fed to milk COWS
! it has invariably increased the milk
yield in a remarkable manner. Hogs
| fed in an alfalfa pasture or fed the
| chopped hay in winter time are always
more thrifty and healthy than when
fed on any other food. While alfalfa
| cannot be used easily as a rotation
| crop on a corn farm, it's value is still
| so great that when man has secured
healthy field of alfalfa he can well
afford to keep it in that crop as long
as it will live
Answering again few Of the many
questions asked, we say: Prepare a
| good seed bed, SOW twenty pounds of
seed in August and do not cut the first
season. Next year cut at least three
times. InOculate the soil either with
the government bacteria solution sup,
piled by the agricultural department or
procure inoculated soil from some
healthy field Of alfalfa. We do not
know Of any one thing which would
prove Of as great value to the average
farmer within the limits Of the corn
belt as for him to secure from five to
ten acres of alfalfa on his farm. Sow
a patch this year and see the hogs
grow and the cows. give milk.