Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-12-28
HOW TO MAKE ALFALFA GROW
Must Have Good Soil, Well
Drained, and Tender Care
for the First Year.
BY :. WESLEY GRIFFIN.

Alfalfa will grow where corn will
make good crop.
The main requirement of alfalfa is
good drainage.
Alfalfa revels in sunshine when there
is sufficient moisture present.
On the plains and in the valleys of
the west it gets the sunshine it needs,
while the moisture is furnished from
below; frequently it comes from Il
depth of 25 feet or more
1t has been proven that alfalfa does
well under the cloudy skies OF Ohio,
Pennsylvania and New York There
are some points to carefully watch in
growing alfalfa in these states.
| Some of the soil is acid and requires
| lime to overcome this.
Ground lime rock at the rate of 1000
pounds per acre may be put on with
safety, but if caustic lime is applied
| $50 or 700 pounds per acre is enough,
as the caustic properties are liable to
injure the young plants.
Another danger is the liability of the
plants to heave out on clay soils when
there is.a succession of freezes and
thaws.
The richer the soil the sooner the
| tap root is established and the danger
I, from heaving is past
There is a close relationship be-
tween the alfalfa plant and the sweet
clover plant (melilotus alba). Alfalfa
will grow and make fine crops on any
land where sweet clover is found.
There are three very important
points to keep in view if you are going
] 2 plant alfalfa-good drainage arti-
icial if not natural; a thorough prep
aration of the soil and plenty of good
| pure seed.
Use whatever implements you have
1T hand, but l have found a disk har-
row, a No. 40 Oliver chill turning pillow.
! plank drag or float, and sharp
toothed drag harrow to be all that is
rcquired in preparing for seeding
First disk the soil four inches deep,
hen cross disk it the same depth. If
is yet cloddy run over with the drag,
hen with the drag harrow. Now you
ire ready for the plow
Set the plow to run as deep as the
soil has been broken heretofore and
blow close and even. We don't want
my cut and cover when breaking for
alfalfa.
Follow each days breaking with the
plank drag. This levels down all
Jumps and prevents the escape of mois-
cure.
After the soil has lain in this state
Tor several days use the disk harrow
gain. Set it so it will cut down to
the mellow earth turned under
i When once over with the disk follow
with the plank drag. Here we are
firming as well as filming the soil
When over with the drag let the
soil lie two or three days and disk in
!, opposite directions and follow as before
with plank drag.
Here is where you can save time by
: attaching sharp-toothed drag harrow
: to the plank drag, as shown in the May
issue of the American Farm World
This attachment opens up little fur
f rows in which the seed will fall !
have found nothing better than a
hawthorn bush for brushing in small
: seeds.
Some soils and localities favor fall
and some spring seeding.
On high or rolling land where good
surface drainage is to be found pre-
fer September for seeding.
On land where there is amy doubt as
to the conditions of the drainage sys-
tenn | prefer preparing the soil late in
the fall and seeding as early in the
spring as the soil will do to stir
If fall sowing is best you get the
start of all weeds that come up before
frost; the more the better, as frost
kills them down and they make fine
mulch for the young alfalfa plants
during winter.
If spring sowing is best in your To-
cality you will have to contend with
| Ic I,,+ \
season, as the young plants need all
the nourishment they can get from the
; air and this they get through their
leaves, which are their lungs
Some will say: ooh. the weeds will
1 take it, Sow enough seed to take the
f weeds.
The proper time for cutting is after
he first blossoms appear. If it stands
! onger the stalks become hard and
many of the leaves are lost in the
handling.
If the sun is shining and drying
wind blows cut in the forenoon and
rake into windroms in the afternoon
and put into small cocks. Let them
stand till the dew goes off the follow
= ing morning, then put away in the
NOV.
During rainy weather caps for the
cocks are very good and will pay fol-
I themselves the first seasons use
e Alfalfa does best without nurse
j crop.
Sow only the best, new, recleaned
t seed.
: Sow 25- pounds or more seed pei
] acre.
If there is only half stand disk an6
: SOW more seed. Do not plow it up.
f Keep trying. 1t is one of the bes
4 paying things you ever undertook
n Sow only few acres at first, ther
more as you learn how.
HINTS ON CARE OF HORSES