The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-09-15
Shows Essentials of Successful
Alfalfa Culture in North Dakota

freezes. Pasturlng Is q form OF cut
ting that is very injurious to alfalfa,
except hog pasturing, and even hogs
should not be allowed to pasture it
at all closely.
The first essential is the selection
of a we'll drained, sweet rich soil.
Alfalfa, though a soil enricher, revels
in a rich soil, a soil that is never I'M
der water at any season of the year,
a soil that should produce a heavy
crop Of corn or wheat is the ideal soil
for alfalfa, whether sandy, loan, a
heavy clay. The subsoil should be
free from layers Of hardpan or layers
of gravel.
The second essential Is the proper
preparation Of the soil. 1t should be
coated with manure at the rate of ten
to fifteen loads per acre. This should
be plowed under to a depth of eight
or nine inches. The next spring corn
should be planted in check rows and
the corn should be we'll cultivated
and hoed that a single weed will not
go to seed. If this is done the great
est enemy Of alfalfa. pigeon grass. will
be eliminated, az its seeds will not
live Owe a year in q we'll cultivated
soil. After the corn crop is removed,
cultivate the soil with the disc, set to
run lightly. Under no circumstances
pillow it, because you would make the
soil too lose and you would probably
bring up deeply buried weed seeds.
TIL third essential Is good viablo
seed of a hardy variety such as
Grimm, Turkestan or Montana. This
seed should have been grown in either
North or South Dakota or Montana.
Seed this seed on the field prepared
as described above at the rate of ten
pounds per acre without a nurse crop.
Inoculate your field before seeding
or at seeding time by applying soil
from an old alfalfa field and harrow
ing the same into the soil Immediately,
a sunlight is fatal to the bacteria.
Or screen the soil and apply by mix
ing with the alfalfa seed and seeding
the whole through the ordinary drill.
If your land has been properly pre-
pared weeds will not bother the first
year to any extent, the alfalfa will
i be twenty inches high and in blossom
in August. Under no circumstances
cut or pasture this first crop, let it
90 into winter to protect the crowns.
If the land was not properly prepared
and weeds should seriously bother the
first year, do not clip them until the
buds have begun to form at the crown
of the alfalfa plant, then clip as high
as possible and yet check the weeds;
remember, clipping is very. liable to
injure thealfalfa more than the weeds.
If you have grown alfalfa
in North Dakota, try a square rod next
spring O your garden soil, i%noculate
this little spot with soil obtained
from the experiment station or from
an alfalfa field in your neighborhood
in order to have q source of inoculat-
de soil on your own farm. This fall
is the time to lay off five acres to seed
to alfalfa in 1918. Manure it we'll this
fall and pillow 1t deep, this fall. Grow
a NEEDLESS crop Of corn on it next
year, %inoculate and seed it properly
in 1913, and through the succeeding
years this five acres field should pro-
duce from ten to twenty tons Of alf-
alta hay which would be the equiva-
lent of twenty to forty tons of timothy
in feeding value for all kinds of live
stock.
Alfalfa is a peculiar plant and most
North Dakota farmers have much to
learn about it. Begin with a square
rod in your garden next year, study
its nature, and it's needs, plan to put
in five acres in 1913 and plan to put
in larger fields in the succeeding
years until you have at least twenty
per cent Of your land in this very
valuable soil enriching legume, which
Is capable Of furnishing you the
cheapest and most valuable hay Of any
cultivated plant known to man.