Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1906-09-06

oNt tuey Can % put into condition
TO sell very well On the Western
markets Dairy COWS can be fed
very satisfactorily al winter 90 an
leSclusive ration of alfalfa hay. They
will not give DIS much milk when
thus fed as i they bad. say. half
ration Of grain, bns frequently the
milk IS produced al q greater profit
when feeding alfalfa alone than when
ieedifss grain with It. At Moneta,
Cal. she writer has seen dairy herds
that were I'D alfalfa hay In the vim
Vet And green aIialih ept and carried
% fhem ii the summer, year IN and
year oat, with no other feed. In
this connection the experience OF
Mr. Charles A Councilman, who
maintains large herd OF dairy cows
near Baltimore, Md. Is Of interest.
He has eighty acres of good alfalfa
on his farm For silage be grows
corn and cowpeas planted together.
In winter time bis COWS are fed on
this corn and cowpea siIage and al-
ialfa hay without any grain. The
results are highly satisfactory and
very nearly as good as they former
| ~ we're when Mr.. Councilman 8
bill was over $1,000 year.
Under ordinary conditions alfalfa
yields larger crops Of hay than any
osher hay crop grown In this coun-
try, unless we except sorghum,
which. however. makes hay Of very
inferior quality when compared with
alfalfa Even Ia the northern tier
Of States alfalfa yields two or three
crops Of hay year In central lati-
tudes four crops ara usually cut, In
northern Louisiana five or ak. while
In some parts Of southern Texas, III
. god year, alfalfa may DO cut nine
times. With the soil ID fair condI-
tion the yield Of hay ia the South Is
about one ton per cutting. In the
North Il is usually more than this.
Under good conditions o farmer may
falrly expect o yield Of four or Eve
tons per aero Of the best hay, and
| yields much larger than this have
ba0a harvested.
Alfalfa being legume and very
deep rooted has favorable eject On
she fertility Of tho soil. After an al
ialfa crop has grown several years
on d Hold. wien, IL Is plowed up and
planted 70 corn or other grain. the
yield Of grain is usually very much
greater than u was on The same land
before the alfalfa was s0wn. The
length Of time an alfalfa field will
live depends on so many local con.
ditions that no definite time can be
stated When ID Is not bothered by
weeds and is MOI pastured, and is on
soil well adapted TO 1t, alfalfa has
been known 70 produce very good
bay crops for half q century without
resoeding. Ordinarily, however,
"a needs rcseeding after four or 1--WE
years, Unfortunately, farmers have
gotten the idea that alfalfa Is not
adapted 70 ordinary crop rotation be-
cause Of It's long life This is a very
mistaken idea. II alfalfa during the
tirst two years Of It's life Yields more
and better hay than red clover, then
Il can DO substituted for red clover.
ID an ordinary four or ave year
rotation 70 advantage, ard the wri-
ter knows farmers who use the crop
Ia this way But IN those sections
whore the crop is rather hard 20
start It Is usually wise to leave il
down as long as itdoes well. After
the lard Is we'll inoculatod with the
proper bacteria for alfalfa and the
larmor has learned how 10 establish
the crop with fair degree Of cer-
tainty, i may then be used In short
rotations.
The source Of seed is Of consider
able Importance IN sowing alfalfa.
We do not know great deal about
tho subject yet. but IL is pretty
well established that for sowing ii
cold regions only seed grown ia d
cold country should be- sown. For
instance, 10 the northern tier or
States Montana.grown seed OF Cana
dian grown seed is much better than
seed from Colorado. or Kansas. or
Utah.
Some years ago there was quite q
furry over Turkestan alfalfa. The
Department Of Ariculture has test
cd eight Or ten varieties Of alfalfa
from Turkestan and most OF them
are not as well adapted to this coun.
try as our own homegrown seed.
Some Of them, however, seem to
DO especially adapted to sections