The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-03-30
GROWING OF ALFALFA
Two Dawson County Farmers Max
a Fine Success in Growing
This Forage Plant.

AlCAdIlulld IlcIdlu While DIT
Mitchell a few days ago "A Herald rep
re%sentative had the good fortune to
make the acquaintance OF O.. f.
Pautsch, a member of the firm OF
Pautscl Bros farmers, who reside
in Dawson county, some four miles
south of the city of Mitchell. The
gentlemen are engaged in raising al
falfa on their Dawson county farm
to an extent quite beyond anything
in the line which we had heard Of,
or supposed existed in this part of
The state, and our interest in the
constantly and rapidly increasing
popularity of this valuable forage
plant prompted us in "scraping ac-
qnaintance" with the Junior mem
Der of the firm.
The Pautsch farm consists of an
even section-64O acres of land-all of
which is of that character commonly
known and designated as upland
prairie, and 1855 acres of which is de-
voted exclusively to the production
of alfalfa. The farm was for many
years the property of j. @. Ander-
son, and will Ue remembered by many
Herald readers as the "Anderson
rancll.' Regarding the growing of
alfalfa and its value, both as a for
age planl-areen and cured-and
commercially, Mr.. Pautsch said
nothing i'm the line of clovers or other
forage plants of which he had any
knowledge, or bad had any exper-
fence, especially as a feed for hogs
and growing pigs, could equal alfal-
ia fol %pasturage, and that it was
lellaIleu by all classes of stock in
winter and is especially valuable as a
ration for brood soWs at. the season
when sncculent food cannot lie had.
He gave his experience i'm wintering
a bunch of brood sows the present
season, where no other feed than al
falfa hay and one ear of corr a day
to each hog had been given. and
said the animals were full fat
enough 81 would raise alfalfa for
its use as hay, or winter feed for my
hogs alone. had [ no other use for
It,. said he, land it is equally as
valuable for mich COWS and growing
stock as for hogs Much live stock
is kept on the Pautsch farm and
the purpose in growing alfalfa is
especially for feeding purposes. but
during one season when the whole
mount produced "a not required
for home feeding, the surplus,
amounting to several hundred tons.
was baled. shipped TO an eastern city
and readily sold on the market at a
price which Melted Messrs. Pautsch
Sl2 per ton. And as fully four tons
to the acre is the average yield pro-
duced. it must be conceded that the
crop is not only fully as valuable
commercially as considered from any
other point Of view, but positively
stands without ar equal in point of
p1ot'tableness among the category OF
ordinary farm products i'm South
Dakota.
Regarding the need OF excessive
moisture for best results in growing
the crop, the gentleman said
"l'he amount of moisture that
is required for wheat may be
utilized by alfalfa. it will grow un-
der the same conditions as wheat,
and when once fairly rooted will
withstand drought that would ruin
wheat. There is absolutely no ques
lion about growing alfalfa Success
fully on our prairie farms in this To-
cality: we have fields of the plant
on our farm that have been cut Two
or three times each season for fifteen
years and the stand is as perfect at
present as at any time since it was
cpp6pG -