The Holly chieftain., 1909-04-16
RESULT OF TESTS MADE BY THE
COLORADO EXPERIMENT
STATION.
VARIETIES COMPARED
NEED OF DRILL ESPECIALLY DE-
SIGNED FOR SOWING Al.
FALFA SEED.
(By P. X. Blinn, Colorado Agricultural
College at Fort Collins.)

College at Fort Collins)
Hardly a mail comes to the Colo
RADIO Agricultural College that does
not contain an inquiry in regard to the
sowing of alfalfa, the varieties best
adapted to particular localities, the
quantity of seed required per acre, and
the conditions and Methods necessary
for good results.
The Colorado Experiment Station
has been testing the different varie-
ties and endeavoring, by the syste-
matte selection Of the best individual
plants, to develop superior type of
alfalfa for hay and seed production.
The results of the work have been very
promising, indeed; but at present there
is no seed available for distribution,
although efforts to produce seed suf-
ficient for wider tests are being put
forth. The varieties that have given
the best results in nearly all the tests
have been the northern grown types.
Some of the Turkestan strains, the
Grimm alfalfa, and the varieties that
have been introduced under the name
of Sand Lucerne, are the most hardy
and vigorous types.
The Arabian variety has not been
hardy, even in southern Colorado and
the same has been found to be true Of
all the seed from the hot countries.
Nearly all our native alfalfa, especially
that from California and the south
western states, has reached us by what
might be called the southern route,
!. e., it was brought over by the Span
iards into South America; then across
into Chill, and thence north into the
southern and southwestern part of the
United States.
While it has been a great acquisi
tion to our western agriculture, 1t has
lacked hardness to some extent, and
this probably accounts for the extrav-
agant recommendation for planting
twenty to thirty pounds of seed per
acre.
Usually 1t Is the lack of proper con,
ditions, rather than the lack of guam
tity of seed, that is responsible for a
failure in getting stand of alfalfa. A
pound of alfalfa seed contains about
225,000 seeds, and ten pounds of seeds
per acre would give fifty or more seeds
to a square foot of ground. If the seed
is vigorous and hardy and the condi
tions favorable, ten pounds of seed
should insure stand of from three to
five good stools per foot, which is suf
ficent.
Alfalfa is as hardy as clover, and
should be sown early in the spring to
get good start and to have the spring
rains, which will insure it's growth
For twelve years we have sown alfalfa
seed the last of March or the first of
April, and we have never had failure
at Rocky Ford, Colo. On several occa-
sions the young alfalfa seedlings sur
vived a freeze Of from five to ten de-
grees of temperature below thirty-two,
and gave no evidence of injury.
A fatal error is often made by SOW
ing the alfalfa seed too deep in the
I drills with grain three to four inches
deep. Alfalfa will seldom reach the
surface under such conditions. The
usual method is to broadcast the seed
just ahead of the grain drill, either
with an attachment on the drill or by
hand; In this way some of the seed is
covered about the right depth, by har-
rowing after the drill. But much of 1t
is SO near the surface that it will not
survive; therefore, much seed is
wasted. The ideal method would be
to have drill that would accurately
regulate the amount of seed and SOW
unifol mly by drills not much over
three-fourths of an inch in depth. We
are sadly in need of a drill especially
designed for sowing alfalfa seed. If
one has only small area of two or
three acres to sow, it might pay to
take the pains to sow with common
garden drill, so as to insure uniform
depth of planting.
All the tests the writer has made
with the drilling of alfalfa in rows
have shown encouraging results in
both hay yield and in the production
of seed, as it allows better chances to
cultivate and regulate and control
moisture. 1t also economies seed, for
in drills eighteen to twenty inches
apart, four to five pounds of seed per
acre will give good stand OF alfalfa.