The Dickinson press., 1911-12-16

the manure ne could not zee why Mr..
Flint had to pound so hard to get the
farmers to engage in dairying and stock
raising. He said while Kansas and
Oklahoma had shorter winter they had
long inequality season or.damp disease
breeding between season periods, which
more than offset any advantage of a
shorter cold term.
Mr.. Willard proDhesied that thi will
be an alfalfa and clover country with
in few years and that corn will be
grown profitably. and these with the
corn will make it certain nobody will
starve, not even in dry year.
Mr.. Willard did not believe any man
can farm section and farm it right
and advised farmers instead of being
''land poor to sell off part and farm
the rest for all there is in it. Mr.. Tim
;a1erman said diversified farming was
jar of gold-nobody would refuse pot
of gold.
Friday morning Treasurer L. R. WAL
dron reported $63.5O paid in during
the year of which $33. so is still on
hand, the balance being spent SIG. 90
for stationary ana postage, 81 for adver-
tising the Midway institute. All letters
were written at the Experiment station
and there was no charge for stenogra-
pher.
L. R. WALDRON ON ALFALFA
have never talked alfalfa to a Dick
inson audience and think it is about
time. You have been told that corn is
a f.e-profit crop. Alfalfa gives corn one
better adding sixth profit, the enrich
ment of the soil. You have been told
the country is approaching state of
capitalism when land will be in even
larger holdings and farmers hired work
men. This tendency is to be deplored
and this evil must be combatted. Farm
ers must fight fire with fire--and capi-
talize too. Conserve the capital they
have, conserve the fertility OF the soil.
This is not done by shipping away fer
tility in crops of wheat and fax.
Cream and butter take little out Of the
soil and conserve fertility. Conserve
moisture. Moisture is capital. 1t costs
money to put in grain and without
moisture there will be no profitable crop.
There is no profit if the yield merely
pays for the seed and the labor. Stark
county's Grain crop in 1911 was failure
from financial standpoint. Had moist
ure been conserved it woud have been a
success. -
Alfalfa is wonderful crop for Western
North Dakota and IN fact, for the whole
state. Thousands of acres of bottom
lands in this section are especially fit
ted for alfalfa and it does we'll on our
uplands although the culture must be
different. Alfalfa will, year after year,
give a greater income than any other
crop. Wheat must have moisture and
just so much. Too much is nearly as bad
as too little. Alfalfa can use all the
water it can get and can get along with
very little. On the lowland where the
roots reach water it can be sown
thickly. On the uplands it must depend
upon showers and must be cultivated so
that water can get to the roots. At the
Station there is now alfalfa with roots
down feet where they can get n.ore
water. If sown too thick on upland the
yield is not so satisfactory, the roots get
ting down only about three feet. There
will, under such conditions, be fair first
cutting, but in an average year practi-
cally no more. By proper seeding and
cultivating two or three cuttings may
be had on uplands. At the Station alfal-
ia sown in 1910 on the top of hill
cut 3, 800 pounds to the acre in 1911.
Grown in rows alfalfa may be easily
cultivated. In the spring go over it
with a disc harrow as you would over
a new ploughed field and follow with
a smoothing harrow. A smoothing har-
row may be used even when the alfalfa
is 8 inches high. After the first cutting
it pays to repeat the discing and
smoothing so as to conserve moisture.
Alfalfa for milk producing purposes
is worth $l2 and probably as much as
$1S or $19 per ton. A seed crop is
worth a lot of money. There will be
from to 8 bushels of seed per acre
which at 80 cents per pound will make
$72 per acre. An alfalfa field will
usually produce one hay crop and one
seed crop in season.
| If alfalfa is to be sown on upland,
water should be first conserved and the
alfalfa should follow corn. Sown
where no water is stored 1t develops q
stunted root system and is unsuccess-
full. 1t is far better than grain crop.
Thus far no insects prey upon. hail does
not materially injure it, hot winds dc
not destroy it or dry weather seriously
affect it. At the Station it was the
best crop of 1911 where grown right.
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