Gunnison news-champion., 1909-04-16
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y hlinh. 'oinrado Agricultural college.
tuIt tullins.
Hardly a mail comes to the Colo
rado agricultural College that does
not contain an inquiry in regard
g. the sowing of alfalfa, the varieties
best adapted to particular localities
the quantity OF seed required per
acre, and the conditions and meth
ods 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 indivual
plants to develop a superior type of
alfalfa for hay and seed production
The results OF the work have been
very promising indeed; but at pres
ent there is no seed available for
distribution although efforts to pro-
duce seed sufficient 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 Gaimm alfalfa
and the varieties that have been in
troduced under the name Of Sand
lucerne are the most hardy and vic
orous types The Arabian variety
has not been hardy even in southern
Colorado, and the same has been
found 70 lao tr,a ,T all ,to .,.J (,0..,
the hot countries. Nearly all our
native alfalfa especially that from
California and the southwestern
states has reached us by what might
be called the southern route, i. e. il
was brought over by the Spaniards
into South America; then across in
to Chill, and thence north into the
southern and southwestern part oI
the United States.
While it has been a great acquisi.
ton to our western agriculture, il
has lacked hardness TO some extent,
and this probably accounts for the
extravagant recommendation for
planting twenty to thirty pounds Of
seed per acre.
Usually it is lack of proper CON
ditions rather than the lack of quan-
tity OF seed that is responsible for a
failure in getting a stand Of alfalfa
4 pound Of alfalfa seed contains
about 225, 600 seeds aud ten pounds
oi seed per acre would give fifty or
more seeds to square foot Of
ground. Ii the seed is vigorous and
hardy ana the conditions favorable
ten pounds of seed should insure a
,tand of from three TO FIVE good
stools per foot, which is sufficient.
Alfalfa Is hardy as clover, and
should be sown early in the spring
10 get a good start and 10 have The
Spring rains which viii insure its
Growth For twelve years we have
own alfalfa seed the last Of March
lr the first Of April ard we have
Hever had a failure at Rocky Ford
Jolorado. On several occasions the
vIung alfalfa seedlings survived a
ireeze OF from FIVE TO ten degrees Of
temperature below -, and gave no
evidence Of injury. \ fatal error rs
0iten made by sowing the alfalfa
seed too deep in the drills with grain
'hree to four inches deep; alfalfa will
seldom reach the surface under such
r1nditions. The usual method is to
broadcast the seed Just ahead Of
the grain dr,ll. either with an at
tachment on the drill or by hand:
iu this way some of the seed is Gov
cred about the right depth, by har-
rowing after the drill. But much of
II IS so near the surface that It will
not survive; therefore much seed is
wasteG- The ideal method would be
TO have a drill that would accurately
regulate the amount Of seed and SOW
uniformly by drills not much over
Z hrae- fQurf hs of an inch IN laf4b