The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1909-06-18
ALFALFA IN WESTERN OREGON.
No Other Crop Offers So Many At
fractions to the Farmer.

fractions to the Farmer.
q. D. Scudder, Department of Agronomy, Oregon
Agricultural College, Corvallis.
Of all the crops produced upon the
farm perhaps 10 other offers so msny
attractions and advantages to the
farmer as does alfalfa. AS an i'm
proven of the soil it has few equals and
no superiors AS forage for all classes
of live stock, whether used as hay,
green feed, or pasture, it is unexcelled
in yield, feed value, palatability, and
permanency of growth. To the farmer
keeping cows, hogs, or poultry, it is of
paramount value in that it is practi-
cally the only forage crop that will
supply green feed continuously through
the dry summer months of this region.
In addition to these advantages it is
superior to all other crops in quickly
improving and maintaining the appear
ance and selling value of farm lands.
Lack of understanding of the peculiar
tiles of the plant and its requirements,
has caused mary failures of first at
tempts at growing the crop in Western
Oregon. This has led farmers to be-
lieve that alfalfa is not naturally
adapted to this region While this to
certain extent is true, yet the diff
cultics in the way may and have been
largely overcome. The splendid re-
suits obtained by the state expert
ment station and other growers in diff
ferent parts of Western Oregon should
convince the most skeptical of the
great future cf the crop in this state.
AS authentic and accurately measured
yields to illustrate the possibilities of
the crop here, those recorded at the
experiment station may be cited. The
average of all the yields of the station
field for the last eight years has been
6.2 tons of cured hay per acre yearly,
or where cut as soiling crop, 26 8
tons of green feed per acre. This field
has the ordinary heavy clay loan soil
typical of the Willamette valley, and
has received no irrigation, fertilization
or special treatment whatever. Any
where in Western Oregon where GER
tain primary requirements of the crop
are satisfied, the same or better re-
suits should be obtained. 1t only be-
hooves the beginner to secure the best
advice obtainable as to methods of
growing; start with small piece; ex-
pertinent with it until its requirements
are learned; gather experience from
his failures and persist until success
full. The reward of such persistence
is ample.
The primary requirements of alfalfa
are deep, we'll drained, sweet ard
fertile soil, free from weeds. The
lands most nearly meeting these re-
quirements are on the slopes of the
rolling lands of the valley bottoms /;
the slopes and tops of the hills sur
rounding these valleys, or the deep
sandy loan river bottoms we'll above
the water level. The ordinary valley
low fiat lands are not suitable.
The deep feeding tap roots upon
whose length these plants depend for
securing plant food and moisture, make
soil eight to ten feet in depth imper-
ative. Although alfalfa prefers a
sandy loan, yet it has proved equally
prosperous on the heavy clay loan
soils, heavy clay subsoil or hardpan
delaying but not stopping the root
growth.
Owing to the need of its roots for
air, alfalfa, especially when young and
during the growing season. is easily
injured by standing water either above
or below ground. Root growth stops
at once on striking water saturated
soil, hence the water table should not
be less than eight to ten feet below
the surface of the ground during the
growing season. Overflow from streams
in winter when the plant is dormant
does not cause much injury, even if
continued for several weeks.
Of even more Importance to the al-
falfa plant than a deep and we'll
drained soil, are the bacteria which
produce the nodules on the roots,
through which the plant is enabled to
draw upon the free atmospheric nitro
gen, enriching the plant and the soil
with this most valuable of all the plant
food elements. Conditions unfavorable
to the activities of these bacteria
cause corresponding lack of prosper
ity in the growth Of the alfalfa. Like
the plant roots, these bacteria require
abundance of air in the soil, upon
which to feed, and also a neutral or
slightly alkaline medium such as is
supplied in limestone soils, in which to
work.
Unfortunately the lack of lime in
Western Oregon soils, in addition to
the prolonged wet season and the pre-
vailing heaviness of the soil, causes
long exclusion of the air from the soil
and a tendency towards acidity or sour
ness which is very favorable to the al
falfa bacteria. Hence it is, perhaps,
that in majority of Western Oregon
soils these bacteria are not present,
and must be supplied by artificial inoc-
ulation after the harmful acidity has
been corrected. This correction is ac-
complished in naturally well drained
soils by application of different forms
of lime. Water slaked lime most
quickly and directly corrects soil acid
ity-ground unburned lime more slow
ly but less expensively-whiIe light
annual dressings with land plaster
keep it sweet (more or less Indirectly