The Ordway new era., 1910-05-20
TO RAISE ALFALFA
Many Farmers Are Not Getting
Full Profit From Crop.
Essentially osep-Rooted Plant ana
Produces Maximum Yield Only
When Roots Can Be Maintained
In Healthy Condition.

Alfalfa Is essentially a deep.rooteo
plant and produces the maximum
yield only when the roots can be
maintained In healthy condition to the
depth Of at least four or five feet
In a fertile. well.drained soil. In a
few localities here In the west our
soils are relatively shallow. being un-
derlaid at from 18 inches to IN feet
by gypsum or rock. At present It
does not appear that this class OF land
can be expected to yield the maxi
mum in hay. although the average
yield seems to be as good II not better
on this class Of land. However. plant
life Is full Of surprises to us and al
falfa is remarkably adaptable plant
writes l.. e. Foster in Field and Farm.
In the past few years number OF our
farmers have realized the Importance
of available fertilizers to increase
their alfalfa yields and in a few In
stances the value Of either top dress
ing or blowing under barnyard ma
nure has been proved beyond question
by bountiful increase in the yield.
One example with which l am per-
sonally familiar will suffice to show
the value OF manuring. Early In Oc-
tober, 1907. we prepared five acres
of raw land. After clearing. plowing
and leveling we irrigated and spread
100 loads of barnyard manure. This
was turned under at once. a fine seed
bed prepared and IL pounds Of seed
to the acre was sown with a press
drill. A hard rain followed quickly and
so packed the ground that poor
stand resulted. As soon as dry
enough we narrowed and sowed more
seed broadcast We were preparing
to irrigate when another rainstorm
saved the trouble of irrigating. A
flrst-class stand Of alfalfa resulted.
During the following season we cut
three times after ar early clipping.
and we cut AZ tons Of hay from each
acre, which was baled in the field and
weighed Immediately. In the fall we
plowed up half of this alfalfa to plant
to grain and other annual crops as an
experiment on fertilized ground.
will say in passing that oats and
wheat raised on this land proved the
only good grain crops we had on the
place.
During last season we cut the re-
naming two and a half acres OF al
falfa five times. the total weight Of
stackable hay amounting to little
over II tons. Alfalfa hay in the stack
shrinks 25 per cent. in 60 days. after
which time there Is no appreciable
loss. Taking account of the loss this
alfalfa patch yielded 5A tons Of hay
to the acre. which could be sold In the
winter when the maximum price pre-
walls. During the first season this
patch OF alfalfa was perfectly healthy.
During the second season 1t was at
tackled to a very limited extent by
root fungus. 1t was irrigated usually
in the day time when there Is the
greatest danger from scalding and
thus weakening the plant when 1t be-
comes an easy victim to the fungus.
Let us take care Of the alfalfa
field. We must not lose sight Of the
very apparent fact that it Is much
more profitable to grow so to go tons
on ten acres Of land than it Is to
grow 40 tons on 20 acres. In shipping
alfalfa in the bale we cannot afford
to permanently rob the land of that
which we have taken away. hope 1t
can be conclusively demonstrated in
few years that we can double our al
falfa yields by applying highly avail
able commercial fertilizers. Let ten
men this season buy 500 pounds of
high-grade phosphoric fertilizers. in
corporate 1t with their soil and at the
end OF the season figure up and CON-
pare results. We can further increase
yields by cutting and by irrigating at
the right time. Alfalfa hay is the
richest in food when cut early In the
blooming period. Do not wait until
It is in full bloom. Alfalfa cut early
starts its new growth quicker. espe-
cially II the ground is wet. Irrigate
Just before cutting or as soon after
as possible. In other words, do not
allow the plants to stop growing. One
thing is quite certain: A lot Of farm
ers are not getting the full profit from
alfalfa