The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1909-06-18

| Dy making the EeaVy SOILS more open
and friable. The land plaster also as
sists in making potash compounds for
which alfalfa has great need, more
available, but to avoid loss through
teaching should be used only in small
amounts.
The need of fertile soil for alfalfa
growing, while not generally recogniz.
ed, is highly important. Though the
plant draws its most important food,
nitrogen, from the air, yet it is heavy
feeder upon the other plant foods of
the soil. On naturally unfertile soils,
or those run down by continued wheat
or other improvident farming, it is
necessary to supply Immediately avail
able plant food such as we'll rotted barn
yard manure, to carry the young
plants through the first two years until
their deep feeding roots are establish
ed. Such fertilization as barnyard
manure or green manure Qike rye or
vetch plowed under) is best applied to
the crop preceding the alfalfa or by
preceding it with clover or vetch.
Aside from its plant food and moisture
retentive value the humus from such
fertilization is of great assistance to
the alfalfa bacterial activities.
Preparing for alfalfa in the preced-
ing crop is also important in enabling
the prospective grower to clean up the
weeds. Weeds, because of their more
rapid growth, heavy draughts on
available plant food and moisture, and
their shading, are highly injurious to
the young alfalfa. Hence by preced-
ing alfalfa with thoroughly cultivat-
ed crop such as kale, corn, potatoes,
or roots, all of which do best heavily
manured, the ground is made clean and
fertile for the alfalfa.
The causes of failure to secure a
stand of alfalfa are generally a poorly
prepared seed bed, poor seed, or the
wrong time or method of seeding. The
causes of the failure of the crop to
grow after good stand has been Sc
cured, are either lack of alfalfa bac-
terra, the need of lime, pasturing when
too young, an impoverished soil, over
crowding with weeds, shallow soil,
poor drainage, lack of cultivation, or
improper after treatment. A crop
properly started and cared for should
produce steadily without reseeding for
fifty years or more.
Owing to the excessive rainfall of
winter and the heavy weed growth of
early spring, fall sowing of alfalfa has
not proved as successful as spring SOW
ing. The ground should be plowed
deeply in the fall if possible, manured
and replowed early in the spring,
Where plowed rather late in the spring,
the land should be disced and narrowed
before plowing. If the soil is in thu
least sour, from 1000 to 1000 pounds
of unburned lime-ground or in tn,
lump-should be applied very early il
the spring, or in place of this, from
500 to 1000 pounds of water slakeC
lime may be sown about April first
After the spring blowing the grount
should be frequently narrowed to ger
rid of the weeds, conserve the moist
ure and bring the seed bed into uni.
formly fine state of tolth.
The seed should be sown from April
goth to May 1st. Just preceding the
sowing the land should be inoculated
with the alfalfa bacteria by scattering
over the seed bed about 200 pounds per
acre of soil taken from the surface foot
of an old alfalfa field. This alfalfa
soil should be mixed with about 400
pounds of the surface soil of the new
field to facilitate its even sowing. To
avoid exposing the inoculated soil to
the sunshine, which Injuries it, it
should be sown on cloudy day or
towards evening, and Immediately har-
rowed in.
If an acre be once successfully inoc-
ulated, the next year it will furnish a
soil supply for inoculating other land.
No faith should be placed in inoculat-
ing the soil through the purchase of
inoculated seed, as under ordinary con-
ditions this method is seldom success
full.
Immediately following the inocula-
tion the seed should be sown at the
rate of twenty pounds per acre, care
being taken to secure pure seed of good
terminating qualities. termination
may readily be tested by placing an
average 200 of the seed between moist
blotting paper, laid between the faces
of two dinner plates and pouring
little water in the lower plate from
time to time.
The seed may be broadcasted and
narrowed in, but more even and Wig
orous stand is secured, especially if
the surface soil is little dry, by drill
ing one half of the seed at time,
crosswise. The ordinary grain drill
may be used with the grass seeder at
tachment so connected as to deliver
the seed into the grain tubes. Follow
ing the seeding the ground should be
rolled well and then very lightly har-
rowed. The seed should always be
sown alone, without nurse crop of
any kind.
The field should be moved whenever
the weeds begin to shade the alfalfa,
or whenever the growth comes to a
standstill or begins to turn yellow; or