The weekly herald. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 1906-19??, 1908-01-16
BY A
RANCHMAN
H. C, Harding Gives Account
Of the Success Of The ES-
pertinent on Tx Land

enterprises III dllAllA farming In the
Panhandle was told yesterday after.
noon to the Farmers congress by II,
@. Harding the cattle and land man,
Of Amarillo, Mr. Harding spoke as
follows:
! have been invited TO address you
on the subject OF raising alfalfa in
the Panhandle TO begin with, !
wish TO impress II upon YOU that |
am not a farmer, wish | we're, but
II Is a we'll known fact, especially
among the old timers, that you can
not make farmers of us natives,
more especially US old Texas cow
punchers, and when YOU know us
better the reason Is very obvious.
1--WE can't do It on horseback" How
ever, when we can get the other
fellow TO do the work we are always
ready 10 tell him how.
AS manager OF the Tx ranch, a
position which | occupied for some
five years ! had considerable expe-
rlence in growing alfalfa This
property consisted Of over 100000
acres OF land which grazed some 25,-
600 head OF cattle during the grass
growing season and in order to keep
the young cattle In a growing con-
dition, we fed them on hay during
the winter months. ! improved the
headquarters for this ranch, now
known throughout the Panhandle as
Bonita Park. II Is situated on Bo-
nita creek about twenty miles north
OF Amarillo on the Canadian river
and when / left there in June, 1905,
we had in cultivation some 200 acres
Of alfalfa which yielded 4 tons to
the acre with four cuttings per an
mum. The result OF my experiments
is summed up as follows. That the
climate and the soil OF the Panhan-
die, especially the soil in the breaks
OF the Canadian river Is adapted to
the growth OF alfalfa, and to grow
1t successfully II should be sown in
the fall OF the year, say from the
LIST Of September to the 18th Of
October. The young plant Is very
tender at all times, but less sensi-
tive to cold weather than hot and
when sowed In the spring it must
contend with the intense heat OF the
sun and the bllghtlng effect OF the
weeds, both OF which swoop down
upon It numerically. BY sowing in
the fall the plant gets the full ben
eft of the winter moisture, thereby
giving the roots chance to grow
deeper into the ground before It
comes In contact with the sun and
weeds. dwell upon the effect of
the hot sun and weeds upon this
plant in its earliest growth because
the only failures l ever experienced
toward getting good stand was in
contending with these adverse con-
ditions.
Some people who have studied
this plant as closely or even more
so than | have done. contend that
nurse crops are unnecessary, but my
experience favors the nurse crop and
turf oats are preferable found
that while the nurse crop afforded
protection To the plant from the cold,
It gave the greatest protection from
the weeds in the spring and summer
say from the time all Vegetation
starts until the harvesting OF the
crop, after which time the alfalfa
can withstand and even kill out any
thing from cockleburs to Johnson
grass.
Alfalfa should not be grazed in It's
infancy unless the nurse crop is very
heavy and growthy, in which event
the nurse crop should be grazed
down to a medium height and at the
same time leaving the alfalfa crop
.,..
The preparation Of the ground Is
OF great Importance to a successful
stand OF alfalfa, In order to get
deep and speedy growth of the root
which is Of prime Importance. The
ground should be plowed as deep as
IL Is possible to put pillow into It.
It should be thoroughly pulverized
to avoid all clods, as the very least
obstacle will retard, and more FREE
quently destroy termination OF the
seed. The nurse crop should be
sown, first putting in the usual guam
tity OF seed and at the usual depth,
then SOW the alfalfa seed just as
shallow as possible to get 1t into the
ground TWENTY-FIVE pounds to the
acre is generally considered suffi-
Client to insure a good stand, but
always put in thirty pounds to make
sure and never failed TO get good
n Fo,uron ,,1,nva 10 ,,n,,,