The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-08-25

an OIQludIy IOuI OI I'VE year IOIa-
tion to advantage, and the writer
knows farmers who use the crop in
this way. But in those sections
where the crop is rather hard to start
it is usually wise to leave it down as
long as it does we'll. After the land
is we'll inoculated with the proper
bacteria for alfalfa and the farmer
has learned how to establish the crop
with a fair degree of certainty, it
may then be used in short rotations.
The source of seed is of consider
able importance in sowing alfalfa.
We do not know a great deal about
the subject yet, but it is pretty we'll
established that for sowing in cold
regions only seed grown in cold
country should be sown. For in
stance, in the northern tier of States
Montana-grown seed or Canadian
grown seed is much better than seed
from Colorado, or Kansas, or Utah.
Some years ago there was quite
furry over Turkestan alfalfa. The
Department of Agriculture has test
ed eight or ten varieties of alfalfa
from Turkestan and most of them
are not as we'll adapted to this coun-
try as Our own homegrown seed.
Some of them, however, seem to be
especially adapted to sections having
a cold, dry climate, and may prove
to be of some value for the North
western prairie States. Farmers are
particularly warned against using
imported seed, unless it is known to
be of good quality. A good deal of
alfalfa seed has been imported from
Europe that was entirely worthless.
1t is not difficult to learn to tell good
seed from bad seed. Good alfalfa
seed has a bright olive green color
on one side and very light shade of
the same color on the other. When
the seed dies it becomes chocolate
brown in color-very different from
the color of the live seed. We
might almost describe the old dead
seed as reddish brown with no
suggestion of olive green in the
color.
In recent years a number of con-
Germs have been grinding alfalfa hay
into a sort of meal and mixing it
with other feeding stuffs, making a
product which sells very readily on
the Eastern markets. This has
made demand for alfalfa hay that
has resulted in considerable increase
in the price of hay in the Middle
West and has, therefore, been of
considerable benefit to farmers in
that section. The only advantages
gained in grinding the hay into meal
are Cd, that it makes the coarser
stems available for feed, and (2),
that it enables the shipper to ship
the meal at a much cheaper rate.
The Eastern feeder can, therefore,
get alfalfa meal as cheap as he could
get the hay, or even cheaper when it
has to be shipped from the West,
and the concerns that grind the hay
into meal can get their profit in ad-
dition. Alfalfa hay is, as yet, not
very we'll known on Eastern mar
kets, but it is becoming more so
every year. 1t is gratifying to note
that the National Hay Association
has established grades for alfalfa
hay. This ought to be of assistance
in making a market for this impor-
tant feeding stuff. In some parts of
the country, where alfalfa has been
grown for some time, the hay is well
established on the markets and COM
mands good prices. At Shreveport,
La, where good deal of alfalfa has
been grown for many years, the hay
always sold around SIS to SIS per
ton. When the farmer can get $40
or $12 per ton, the growing of alfal-
ia hay is decidedly profitable. This
is one of the few hay crops that the
farmer can afford to grow for sale
without serious injury 70 his land
and without the use of commercial
fertilizers, at least for good many
years.-Ame,ican Hay, Flour and
Feed Journal.