El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-09

established alfalfa fields seldom have
more than a fifth of this number OF
plants At Colorado it was found that
a piece OF six months old alfalfa con
tains 6534OO plants per acre, or 10
plants per square foot, which made a
pIant for every seven seeds sOwn- \
IOyearoId field yielding four tons per
acre. contained an average OF o26,'J5
plants. Another field at Rocky Ford
contained but 1892 plants TO the
acre. vet yielded IA tons OF hay 4
field of sandy loan, near all of whose
DIants had a hollow crown and root, had
| 7O.2S3 plants and yielded three tons
per acre.
At three tons per acre, each of the
, ,2S3 plants must have produced about
ia ounces of hay; where there were
562,793 plants and the yield four tons,
the average per plant was but one
fourth ounce. Plants growing without
hindrance from others have been found
TO consist of as many as so stems, 9TH
ers to WELD a pound of well cured hay
each An even stand of from one TO
four plants per square foot is held TO
give every advantage of clover plant
ing Four plants per square foot is
equivalent to 174.240 plants per acre,
which means that one pound OF good
! seed contains enough embryos 10 plant
an acre. 1t is needless, of course, TO
point out the wisdom of sowing such
! an excess of seed.
The Plants Per Foot.
At Kansas 12G plants per foot were
counted. 1t is maintained that thin
sowing will allow the plants to get
| stronger start, to become more prOduc-
| tive and to maintain a good stand
| longer than where sOwn thickIy. Where
the land is rich, thick sowing undOubt-
/ eddy produces a finer hay than where
sown thinner.
To ascertain at what rate alfalfa
| dies out, the Kansas station staked out
| a square of 10 feet to the side in the
| spring of 1903 in q field that was sown
the previous fall. In June there were
1888 plants in the plat or II plants
per square foot; in June. 1906, there
were $40 plants, or six per square foot
and in August, 1907, only 4O3 plants
remained, or four per square foot In
a period of so months therefore, there
! was decrease of ga percent. In
! another experiment, but 13 percent of
! the plants originally counted survived
/ four years.
The yield of the fields did not de-
| crease to any perceptible extent and
, the alfalfa as good as before 1t
I is explained that as the plants decrease
| in number, the remaining ones increase
: in size and number of stems and occupy
| the space vacated by the dead ones.
|
thin and the field is ready for reseed-
| ing.
ThickeninG the Stand.
| 1t often appears difficult to thicken
| a thin stand of alfalfa. yet if the
| seeding is done early in the spring be-
| fore the old ones get started in their
| growth and shade the seedlings or rob
them of moisture and plant food it is
no insupearble task. In an old field,
L
| to chicken the stand because the young
plants are badly handicapped by the old,
well established ones
| Cultivation.
| There are many reasons for cUltivat-
ing alfalfa, and that it is being recog-
nized by farmers is attested by the
numbers of cuItivators now offered by
| implement manufacturers. Cultivation
| loosens the ground after it becomes
packed from the machinery and horses
! and irrigation. II forms a mulch, in
duces aeratiOn, loosens the soil from
| about the plants, and allows the water
! to enter more freely. LOOseness of the
| soil is necessary for the proper devel-
opment of the root bacteria. else they
would suffer for the necessary amount
of oxygen. Cultivation also kills in
sects in the soil and destroys their
! eggs: il also covers the myriads of
leaves lost during having: and it splits
the crowns of old plants and causes
a renewed growth OF stems
Implements and Methods.
The spike tooth disk harrow is re-
| placing the ordinary disk harrow for
cultivating alfalfa. The dansVr of in
loosened to a depth of two or three
inches without leaving ridges. the
crowns are not split as with the disk,
and it may be used most efficiently
in other forms of farm work Ina Kan
sas it is the practice to disk early In
the spring to loosen the soil for the re-
ception Of any rain that may fall. and
often after each cutting. New alfalfa
should not be disked. If in using the
disk a good mulch is not formed il
may be well to cross harrow with the
spike tooth TO break any clods and
to smooth down the ridges.
In the fall OF 1906, 10 tons Of well
rotted manure were applied as a top
dressing for winter wheat in Kansas
on one plat and another was left I'M
treated Alfalfa was sown on the two
plats the fall following, with the re-
suit that in April the manured plat
showed plants Is inches high and 6S
per square foot. while the unmanured
measured 4 - inches high, 80 plants
per square foot. Manure will help al
faIfa as we'll as other plants When
applying care should be taken that ii
be spread lightly and evenly, then disk
thoroughly.
The Problems of an Irrigation Farmer
The yearbook of the department of
agriculture, just issued, contains an ar
tticle by C. s. ScOfieId, agriculturist in
charge of western agricultural extern
sion. that tells of the difficulties and
problems Of irrigation The bureau OF
plant industry, of which he is a mem
Der. has undertaken to investigate prob
lens in connection with the work of
the reclamation service, such as those
dealing with crops. tillage methods,
crop rotations and the introduction of
new crop industries.
The present generation of western
drainage basin contains some 1000
square miles, but includes no perma
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