Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-01-20

|
tein in 100 pounds of wheat bran is
worth B cents. If prairie hay is worth
$ll.o5 per ton, alfalfa would have
value of $3.50 per ton, and wheat bran
would have value of $2205 per ton.
Alfalfa hay practically always sells for
less than its calculated value.
If the comparative values of alfalfa
and prairie hay were extended to North
Dakota fields, and the results secured
per acre, the margin would be much
greater than indicated. Alfalfa will
probably yield five times as much hay
per acre as will the native upland prai-
RE.
Alfalfa is preeminently protein feed,
and is shown to the best advantage
where protein is demanded. For grove
ing stock and milk cattle it has no sr,-
perior, nor is it equaled by any other
forage plant.
An experiment was made i'll Nebraska
and it was found that calves fed Oh
alfalfa hay gained nearly twice as mucl,
as those fed on prairie hay. 1t took
10 pounds of alfalfa to make one pound
of gain, as against II pounds of prairie
hay. Along with alfalfa, it took l -
pounds of grain for each pound of gain.
while with the prairie hay it took ;
pounds of grain to make one pound OF
gain. With the alfalfa fed calves each
100 pounds of gain cost $3.50, and with
the calves fed on prairie hay each 100
pounds of gain cost $3.50. The profit
on the alfalfa fed calves in the spring
was more than twice as much was
the profit on the calves fed on prairie
hay.
Alfalfa is superior as milk producer.
In Illinois it was found that alfalfa had
remarkable merits in milk production, as
compared with timothy. Each ton of
alfalfa hay fed to the COWS produced
milk flow of 1874 pounds over and abov:
the milk flow of the cows fed on tim
othy. AT the selling price of the milk,
$l.3O per hundred pounds, the increase
of milk due to the alfalfa hay equaled
$lO48 more per ton than from the tim
othy. Thus, with timothy hay at $40
per ton, alfalfa would be worth more
than $1,000 per ton.
If, in North Dakota, we should as
sumo the value of our tame grasses to
be worth $40 per acre from dairy
standpoint, then the alfalfa would easily
BE- worth $40 per acre. In Illinois it
was considered that with timothy worth
SIS per acre, alfalfa would be valued
al over $83 per acre We begin to see
why it is that alfalfa excites the interest
which it does in this country.
A few have found out the value of
the plant and have spread the good
news from neighbor to neighbor until at
the present time there is hardly farm
CROP
The increased growing of alfalfa in
North Dakota will do marvellous things
in increasing the fertility of the soil,
putting the land in good physical con-
dition and getting rid of certain diseases
and weeds which are now lingering i'll
| the soil from year to year. These re-
| suits will Have remarkable influence
uDon the grain yields, which, instead of
decreasing from year to year, as they
are at present, will gradually increase:
By means of the bacteria associated
with the alfalfa, the plant is able to
utilize raw nitrogen of the air as a
plant food. Alfalfa uses the increased
stores of available nitrogen in the soil
and By its system of deep roofing brings
near the surface certain quantities OF
potash and phosphoric acid. AS the deep
roofing alfalfa plants bore into the soil
they open up channels for the access
of moisture. Thus the soils become
moist down to a greater depth than was
previously possible.
Alfalfa is naturally adapted to North
Dakota. and to show what it will do for
the state when once it is staple crop,
it is only necessary to point out the
effects it has had upon Kansas. The
agricultural conditions of Kansas have
been almost transformed in the last 20
years, almost solely because of the in
PRODUCTION of the alfalfa crop. Certain
lands in Kansas few years ago sold
for from 81 to SIS per acre, which arc
now selling at from $50 to SIS per acre,
due to the cultivation of alfalfa. SINH
lar results were found in other portions
of the country.
Alfalfa demands sweet, we'll drained
soil. North Dakota soils are general, !
of this nature. A hardy alfalfa must be
grown, but the North Dakota farmers
have this in the Grimm variety. This
variety seems to be hardy enough for
all practical purposes. At Dickinson it
killed out less than per cent agains;
an average of over 20 per cent for GO
Strains
A difficulty in alfalfa growing in
North Dakota comes with the knowledge
that practically all of the North Dakota
soil must be inoculated with alfalfa
germs before the alfalfa will be success
ful. Up to the present time but very
few farmers have taken the pains to
,loculate their soil or treat their seed. ]
and as consequence their ALL. has
generally been a failn..e: incubation by
means OF the s Iii is the simplest meth
o. ..oculation is necessary for Sue
cessful alfalfa culture in North Dakota.
Exceptions to this merely prove the
rule.
The question of drouth resistance
must also be considered. when growing
alfalfa in this state Drouth resistant
strains can be obtained, but for the
present much better progress can be
made by properly handling the crop.
The alfalfa plant. because of its great
root system. is naturally drouth resist
ant. The important thing is to allow