The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-29
ALFALFA OR LUeERNE. lMedlcaao sativa.l

enormous yield of sweet and nutritious forage, which is highly relished by stock, either when green or cured into hay. It will grow and yield abundantly in hot, dry sections, and on poor light and sandy land where no grasses can be grown for it sends it's roots down to enormous depths entirely beyond the action ot drought or heat, which have been for years beyond the reach of ordinary plants
 Alfalfa greatly enriches the soil. even more than ordinary clovers, as IL derives a very large portion of nutritive material from the atmosphere It aerates the land to a great depth, and a large portion Of its great heshy roots, equalling small carrots in size, annually decay from the 1 outside and keep growing larger from the center, and are constantly increas- ing the fertility of the ground.
 Alfalfa is not considered perfectly hardy in our more northern states, yet experi- ments made in some of our nortnern ex- perimental stations prove 1t of more value north than previously supposed.
 The soil best suited for the growth of alfalfa Is that which is deep and sandy; hence the sotl of Florida and many other portions of the cotton belt is emincntly fitted for it's culture. When alfalfa Is to be grown on a large scale, to get the best results the ground chosen should be high and level, or if not high, such Gs Is tilNllGIg tree lIOu QiiutA Ndltls 0AHARi- age must be as nearly perfect as pos sible-either naturally or artifieially. This, in fact, is a primary necessity for every crop, unless 1t be aquatic or suo-aquatic.
 Deep Flowing Needed.
 Deep blowing, thorough narrowing and leveling with that valuable implement, the smoothing harrow, to get smooth and level surface, are the next opera tlons. This should be done in the south ern states from the first 10 the twentieth of October, or at such season in the fall as would be soon enough to insure a growth of four or five inches before the season of growth stops Draw out lines on the prepared land twenty inches apart, Qf for horse culture. but if for hand cul- ture fourteen inches), and two or three inches deep. These lines are best made by the use of what market gardeners call a marker, which Is made by mailing six tooth shaped piclSets six or eight inches long at the required distance apart to a three by four ioist to which a handle is attached-which makes the marker or drag. The first tooth is set against a garden line drawn tight across the field the marker is dragged back wards by the workman, each tooth mark ing a line; thus the six teeth mark six lines, if the line is set each time; but 1t Is best to place the end tooth of the marker in a line already made, so that in this way only five lines are marked at once. It is quicker to do this than to move the line. The lines being marked out, the seed Is sown by hand or by seed drill, at the rate of eight to twelve pounds per acre. After soWing-and this rule applies to all seed if sown by hand the seed must be trodden in by walk ing on the lines, so as to press the seed down into the drills. After treading in the ground must be ltveled by raklnS with wooden or steel rake along the lines lengthways-not cross. This done, 1t would be advantageous to use a roller over the land so as to smooth the sur face and further firm the seed, but this is not indispensable. k.-as-s--a+...- 20 When seeds are drilled in by machine, | the wheel presses down the soil on the seed, so that treading in with the feet is not necessary. After the seeds germi- nate so as to show the rows, which will be In from two to four weeks, according to the weather. the ground must be hood between, and this is best done by some light wheel hoe, if by hand, such as the Planet, Jr. On light sandy soil, such as in Florida, a man could, with ease, run over two or three acres per day. The labor entaied in this method of sowing Alfalfa in drills, is somewhat greater than when sown broadcast in the usual way of grasses and clover, but there is no question that 1t Is by far the best and most profitable plan, for it must be remembered that the plant Is a hardy perennial, and is good for a crop from eight to ten years. Moreover, the sow ing in drills admits of the crop being easily fertillzed if it is found necessary to do so: as all that is necessary Is to SOW bone dust superphosphates, or other con centrated fertilizer between the rows, and then stir 1t into the soil by use Of the wheel hoe
 On Good Soils.
 Because alfalfa fiourishes on poor and worn out lands, it should not be thought unadapted to good soils In the latter its yield almost exceeds belief. At the New Jersey state farm seed of 1t sown April 2S, in drills, and the plants culti- vated, had grown forty inches tall. when cut on July ', seventy days from sowing, yielding (green) 3-16 tons per acre; the third cutting was made September 27, and yielded (green), 6-10 tons per acre; the second cutting was made on August IS, yielding (greerO 1-10 tons per acre, a total of 20 tors of green fodder per acre the first year sown, which would equal at least five tons of cured hay. If sown on light, dry soils during a dry spell, or if sown broadcast not much, If any crop can be expected the first year, as the roots have to get a vigorous hold of the soil; the second year 1t can, if sown under these conditions. be cut two or three times, but 1t Is not until the third year that it develops into full vigor, and after that 1t yields magnificent crops for ten or fifteen years.
 Alfalfa will not flourish on land where water stands at a short distance below the surface, nor in heavy, sticky clays. If attalns It's highest perfection on mel low, we'll drained or rolling land where water readily passes away.
 Alfalfa as SoIlng Crops.
 As a soiling crop alfalfa stands at the head of all crops. there being no other crop that will give such yields of green feed of such high value. It has been shown that an acre of alfalfa properly managed could be made to pay much as $500 or $500 per acre This may seem rather a large story to the reader, yet near our large cities where there is market for green feed this is not at All an impossibility for in some countries farmers pay an annual rental of s250 per acre for growing clovers for soiling pun poses. What we mean here by soiling Is to cut and feed the alfalfa green instead of allowing the stock to pasture 1t. There are times when the soil is wet when 1t would be very injurious to allow stock to