Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1908-12-31
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ALFALFA EXPERIENCE.
Judge Humphrey Tells of His Success
with Crop.

Among the successful growers of al
falfa i'll Illinois is Judge j. Otis Hum
phrev of Sangamon county. Speaking
of MS experience with the crop at the
Tazewell county farmers institute re
Gently, he said:
81 tried for three years to grow al
falfa and it died out every time, but
] don't say that a crop can't be grown
simply because l failed in producing
it. The scientist is among us, and he
is the only man who actually knows,
and he has finally taught us how to
make alfalfa grow.
Then l agreed to follow the exact
advice of DIR. Cyril G. Hopkins of the
Illinois agricultural experiment sta
ton, got soil from an old alfalfa field
tsoil from a sweet clover patch will
do the same) to inoculate the ground
with bacteria. The land was rich as
cream and thoroughly tiled. l put on
bone meal, lime and manure and
plowed it under
After working the ground into the
rest order l ever saw field, l had 1t
worked just as much more. 1t was
narrowed until there was not clod
IN it. And l have not had a particle
of trouble since in growing alfalfa.
You may SOW alfalfa any time from
May to August, and if you will do it
right and follow the right you can grow
alfalfa anywhere in the corn belt, and
the crop is worth $50 an acre. l SOW
one bushel to five acres; that is II
pounds to the acre.
I have never had a complete stand
at first. If 1 had ten per cent. of al
falfa on the ground, l would go on
and make stand of it. | disk all the
bare places in the field and wherever
the stand does not satisfy me, setting
disks almost straight. I never killed
my alfalfa by disking it. I disk, resow
and harrow these bare places. 1 have
done this the first week in June, the
middle Of July, the last week in Au-
gust and the first of October, and al
ways with good results.
now have five fields of alfalfa, and
for the last six years l have cut about
four tons per acre of this marvellous
crop.
III u1y JuuSluSul, dlldlld ID INC ulOot
marvellous food and forage plant, con
tanning the most of the elements that
sustain life of any in existence.
Corn, wheat and oats have no power
to get nitrogen from the air, but al
falfa is the greatest nitrogen-fxing
plant on earth. 1t secures from the
air four times as much nitrogen as
red clover But it will also make yor
money while it is storing nitrogen fol
you I believe that alfalfa, one veal
with another. is better money maker
even than corn.
All animals On the farm from chick
ems up will eat alfalfa; the pigs thrive
on it; sows will go through winter
on it; it is good for the Mares wean
ling colts fed alfalfa and sheIled oat!
come out fat in the spring and shet
off in March. 1t supplies more greer
feed for the hogs than anything else
and this is a great prevention of hos
disease l have tried It, and I thinl
| know about it. l would not give ;
ton of alfalfa for two of timothy. Yol
cannot feed a horse anything in TIL
world he likes so we'll as alfalfa. Pu
corn, shelled oats, bran mash and a.
falfa in his mangeT, and you will SCI
that he eats the alfalfa first. I don
know any animal that will net leav
every other food to get alfalfa.