Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1911-03-02

kept in mind that alfalfa has bac-
terra living in nodules on its roots.
These germs furnish the plant with
nitrogen which they take from the
soil air. They put it into a form
that the plant can use and so sup
ply the alfalfa with the nitrogen
that it needs and more too. The
alfalfa plant has in a measure lost
the power of taking nitrogen from
the soil as the other crops do, so it
cannot make much growth alone.
1t in turn furnishes the germs with
food of a different kind so it is
cooperative affair, each furnishing
that which it can secure the easiest.
When the alfalfa is starting it does
not have the germ on its roots and
so is very delicate and must be
given good care. The germs will
multiply faster in the soil if it con-
tains manure, and if the germs are
not in'the soil it may be necessary
to introduce them. The best way
to do that is to get some soil from
a field that has been growing the
alfalfa successfully for few years
and SOW it on the new field at the
rate of 200 pounds per acre.
For North Dakota the best way
to prepare the soil is to manure
for a crop of corn-clean cultivate
the corn-then SOW the alfalfa on
the disced corn stubble, putting in
eight to ten pounds per acre-and
with the drill so as to get the seed
buried, one to two inches-do not
SOW any nurse crop with it. A
bare fallow that has been kept
free from weeds will also bea good
preparation, as will also potato
ground. But in any case it should
be manured. When the alfalfa is
up eight to ten inches it should be
cut back. This will not hurt the
alfalfa; in fact will do itgood-but
will be hard on the weeds. Prof.
Shaw recommends narrowing the
alfalfa when it is up FIVE to six
inches. This will kill weeds and
remake the dust mulch. When
sown with the drill the plants will
be so deeply rooted that it will not
pull out many plants if the harrow
teeth are set with a backward slant.
The amount of seed sown should
vary with the rainfall; under irri-
CATION, or where the rain fall is
abundant, more seed than specified
above should be sown. 1t was
found at the Dickinson sub-station
that where the plants were nine
inches part three cuttings were
secured in 1910 and the yield was
nearly 24 tons, while where the
plants were only two inches apart
only one cutting of about half
ton was secured. In digging out
the roots it was found that where
the plants were far apart the roots
went down seven to eight feet
while in the case of the plants that
were close together the roots did
not go down more than three feet.
Another important point is to
have a good covering on the field
in the fall to hold snow,
The best seed to SOW is that
which is northern grown. The
Grimm has proven to be one of the |
most hardy strains. However,
seed that is northern grown is in
itself an evidence that it is hardy. !
The alfalfa is not q pasture plant.
It will not stand pasturing we'll. |
and cattle and sheep bloat very !
easily on it. 1t is, however, an
ideal pasture for hogs. i will
likely last two or three years under
such treatment. r-
In starting alfalfa better start on
a small patch and learn how to do
it before experimenting on a large
field. Use plenty of manure.
Plant on corn, potato, or summer
fall,w ground. Introduce the