The Breckenridge news., 1905-10-11

the ground to bring 1t to a degree of
6neness that will enable it to hold
moisture.
No nurse crop is needed when alfalfa
is sown in the fall it nust be about
an inch deep and should not be sown
when there is merely a little moisture
in the ground with dry soil beneath,
lest 1t sprout aud perish before rains
come.
Weeds Will not trouble this fall .sown
alfalfa much and it makes four crops
of hay tie next year, though not
quite so heavy crops as the spring
sown alfalfa should make.
The time tom axe alfalfa.hay is when
it is about half in bloom and before
the leaves have fallen from the stem.
That will be about the tenth of May,
Take this first crop Off promptly to
secure the hay while 1t is in its prime
and to allow the next crop to come
in.
Cure the hay by raking into small
windrows while it is yet tough and
cooking In rather tall and slender
COCKS so that the air may get at the
hay. DO not delay raking until the
hay is dry or you will lose many of
the leaves, and they sre worth as
much, pound for pound, as wheat
bran.
The hay may cure in the cock if the
weather is fine, or they may be opened
out and summed and again piled up
and hauled to the barn. When only a
few tons are put together the hay must
be pretty dry else it may mould. When
putting many tons in one rick or
NOV, the hay need not be SO well
dried. as the heat prevents moulding.
Alfalfa hay Will keep we'll in NOW or
rick, but when ricked it must be Gov
cred with wild grass, straw or boards,
as it Will not shed rain well. There
will be four cuttings the second year
and these should he taken off when
the proper stage of growth has been
reached, whether -the alfalfa is long
or short. When it begins to bloom,
the leaves to rust and buds appear on
the bases of the stems, it must be cnt,
else it will cease to grow and no SUBJ
sequent crop need be looked for
If, perchance from drought, the
second or third crop happens to be
very short, it must be mown off as
promptly as though it was a good
growth and then the succeeding crop,
should there be rain, may De very
much heavier than the poor one re-
moved. Had it not been cut, however,
this good crop would not have been
secured.
On land rightly prepared with fav-
orable seasons of sufficient rain, alfalfa
In Kentucky NAV yield as much as
six OF eight tons to the acre. A yield
of four to five tons may more conf
IDENTIFY be expected.
Alfalfa will endure in profitable
condition on suitable soils for from
six to twelve years. Grasses encrosch
upon it and may be destroyed by
disking after the roots are tough
enough to endure it. A spike-toot tined
harrow TO follow the disk will more
surely tear out the grass. The har-
row will not injure the alfalfa roots.
When once l-established an an
nual drilling in of liberal amounts
of phosphorus and potash will q eatly
stimulate growth on most soils and
be repaid several times over in the
increased yield.
When it is desired to plow the field
it may be turned with very sharp
plow and strong team and the roots
are readily killed when cut off. Any
crop will yield very abundantly after
alfalfa, corn and tobacco being per-
haps best suited to follow alfalfa,
since small grain may lodge because
of the exceeding richness of the land.
After one or two crops have been
taken off of the land 1t should be again
mantured and sown to alfalfa, which
will take much more readily and yield
much more abundantly than it did at
the first sowing.
The Commissioner of Agriculture
begs Kentucky farmers not to SOW al
falfa upon poor or unprepared soil or
in wrong manner, since by so doing
failure is almost assured and the
whole cause of alfalfa culture will
receive a serious setback. He believes,
however, that wherever man
has learned to grow alfalfa he will
rejoice all his days and be the richer,
more intelligent and better man for it
and MS neIghborhood will be helped
by the example of good farming.