The Greeley tribune., 1907-02-28
Points in Scientific Soil Culture and Stock Feed
ins and Breeding Brought Out by the
Experts at Asricultara| College and
Others ObtaininsFhe Best Re.
suits. successei Session.

The two days farmers institut,
opened in Odd Fellows hall last
Friday morning with q good attend
ance for the first session. The at
tendance also grew better as the ses
sions progressed, until the hall was
filled to capacity. The meeting Fri.
day morning was opened with q
piano solo by Miss Elizabeth Cam
field and vocal solo by James Nc.
Cullough. Then the real business
in hand was plunged into and from
that time on information of great
value to the farmers was distributed
as freely as air and water.
Talk on Alfalfa.
First on the program as speaker
came Prof, w. p. Headden, the
alfalfa expert at the State agricul-
tural college, and while he may not
have fully convinced his listeners
that alfalfa Is the first and original
cause Of everything elsa that grows,
no probably d4d dssocnvinU5 them tiYxt
without the proper growth of alfalfa
on the farms of Colorado these will
within a few years become too lean
to sustain the present population
even.
By actual analysis Mr.. Headden
and others have determined the exact
value of alfalfa to the soil. An
alfalfa crop plowed under would re-
turn to the soil fertilizing properties
to the value OF 1874 to every acre,
figuring the present market value of
potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen,
the three substances that make up
the fertilizing properties of alfalfa.
Paradoxical as it may seem while
alfalfa is one of the very best ferti.
lizing agents 1T is also one of the
heaviest feeders on the three elements
mentioned, but on account of its
great root depth it draws these sub
stances from much greater soil area
than any other crop grown.
Nitrogen is drawn from the earth
and also from the air, probably in
about equal quantities from each
source, and most of this is retained
in the leaves and tops of the plants,
as Is also the greater per cent of the
potash and phosphoric acid. Even
with the most careful harvesting of
the crop, from fifteen to twenty per
cent of the plant weight is left on
the ground, for the most part leaves
and the smaller stems, that contain
the greatest amount of fertilizing
properties.
Thus, while the hay crop is taken
off there Is plenty Of fretllizing mat
ter left on the ground to return
practically as much as there is taken
out. The alfalfa roots having drawn
much OF their nourishment from Il
depth of from four to nine feet in
the earth, really bring this to the
surface and help make rich subsoil'
Furthermore, the numerous Alfalfa
roots open up the soil and allow the
air and moisture to penetrate freely,
adding still more nitrogen to the
soil, and thus the fertilizing process
continues.
Prof. Headden showed many re-
markable photographs of alfalfa
plants ''and their roots, some OF the
latter running into the ground to a
depth of twelve feet. One plant, OF
which picture was shown, had 3do
stems of alfalfa from a single root.
This was the largest plant of the
kind, said Mr.. Headden, that he had
ever seen. 1t was grown on the col
Iege farm, in a field where te"
stray plants had been left over from
the season before.
Farmers Organization
The subject of Farmers organi-
zations, in the afternoon brought
out more enthusiastic discussion than
did the topics Of the forenoon
Prof. W. Paddock opened the discus I