The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1909-04-30

a MONG the important classes OF
III crops grown on the farm are
Xn tho lecumeS. The soil is to the
VS. - farmer what a stock of goods
70 merchant. He cannot keep
wing Oh it forever without putting
amotbing back. Ordinary crops take
s,.nt food from the store in the soil.
Ts,s must be replaced in some way.
,acumes on the other hand, leave the
~ richer rather than poorer.
~ rou will examine the roots Of a
= .,orer plant carefully you will notice
.rmerous little swellings about the
too of pin heads or little larger.
Thoso are called nodules and are the
souo of certain bacteria. These bac-
tsrIa are minute one celled plants. so
mall that thousands of them can hang
n, the point of pin. We shall study
Esome of the different classes Of bac-
toria in detail later. The ones that
live on the roots Of legumes have the
oower of changing the nitrogen Of tie
an into a form in which it can be used
by the plants.
When clover stubble is plowed under
the nitrogen which is contained in the
stems and roots is added to the soil
lmd can be used by the following crop.
7shere the soil is badly lacking in
nitrogen and humus 1t sometimes pays
70 pow under the entire crop Of clover.
The nitrogen which leguminous
napts add to the soil is by no means
NE only benefit which comes from
teIr use. Nearly all Of them have IL
long taproot, which forces its way
down into the soil far below the depth
reached by the roots Of ordinary crops.
Alfalfa roots sometimes go down as
deep as thirty feet or more. Much of
the plant food used by the crop Is
brought up from this lower layer Of
soil, and some Of it is left in the upper
coll when the roots and stubble decay.
The passage Of the long roots through
the soil also loosens it, and when they
decay add to the humus supply. Thus
the physical condition Of the soil IS so
Improved that the more tender roots
Of such crops as corn can penetrate
1t readily. Because Of these facts
orn, potatoes and almost any other
crop will grow faster and give con
siderably larger yield on field which
has grown legume the year previous.
The principal legumes are alfalfa,
Dclover. cowpeas and soy beans. Al
falfa Is grown most successfully west
40f the Missouri river. although by no
means confined entirely to that local
] ity. 1t requires some care to get a
Hgood stand Of alfalfa. 1t does best on
a soil that is somewhat sandy and
should never be sown on a soil where
the water table Is liable to stand for
any length Of time within three feet
from the surface "Wet feet" will kill
alfalfa quicker than anything else
As a general rule the best time to
SOW alfalfa is early in the fall. The
ground should be put in the best pos
sible filth, and if MANFRED before SOW
Ing the seed the chances of success
are considerably Increased. The seed
should be sown at the rate of about
fifteen pounds per acre. A light har-
rowing will cover 1t sufficiently. If
the young plants weather the first
winter successfully. the critical time is
past. The advantages of alfalfa over
clover are its higher feeding value and
greater yields. 1t can often be cut
three or four times In a season, with
Yield Of from one to two tons per
cutting. Alfalfa must always be cut
as soon as about one-tenth of the
plants are in bloom; otherwise the
vitality Is weakened and the yield Of
The succeeding crops reduced.
There are several varieties of clover,
OF which medium red is the most wide