Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1911-02-16
TALK ON ALFALFA
Well Known Seedman Gives Interest
ing Paper at Pierre

". y. y
at the Conservation Congress:
My first experience with this plant
dates back to 1884, at which time |
was living in the Southeastern part
OF Brule county. ] only sowed one
acre at that time, and the craH was
not an entire success. Our land was
new and not in proper condition, but l
believe today that if the proper seed
had been procured, for instance a
hardy strain OF Turkistan, the re-
suit would have been very much Diff
very hard to get, about the only kind
on the market was imported seed.
To this day imported seed except in
rare instances is something that the
Northwestern farmers must steer
clear OF
A later experience demonstrated two
principles which are widely talked oil
today bat the significance of which
did not dawn OH me until that time.
At the time ! refer 10 | was located in
Lake county. ! sowed twenty acres
and sowed the alfalfa with about ]
bushels of oats per acre. The stand
was not what / had hoped Tor and
probably studied deeper into the mat
ter OF alfalfa culture then than at any
time before. Upon careful invest ga
ton | found that where the oats were
real thin that the alfalfa made a
fine rank growth the first season amt
came through the winter very we'll
There were a great many places where
the oats grew rank and shaded the
n t.ll 1sF,1ip nh
them to grow tall and spindling. In
these places they winter killed. In
preparing the seed bed for this crop
there was portion of it which receiv-
ed considerable more pulveri2ing than
the rest and early in the season it be-
came very evident that the alfalfa on
the we'll pulveriZed portion Of the field
had better stand and stroneer
growth than on the balance of the
field. Two deductions were made
from this experiment which are tha-
the seed bed Tor alfalfa must be pull
verified, thoroughly pulverized and
that alfalfa should never be sown
with nurse crop, as when sown alone
it has every opportunity to make
good strong healthy plant carly in
The season. and when this is the case
it viii stand the winters.
PREPARATION OF SEED BED.
Alfalfa must be sown on land that
is well drained Nest any kind Of soil,
if the Subsoil is not hardpan, win
raise alfalfa.
In or latitude about the 18th of
May is the proper time. Further south
many farmers SOW their alfalfa after
they have taken off crop Of small
grain, but | do not advise that In
the Northwest, as alfalfa Should be
sown in this latitude before June 18th.
| first want to impress on you the
Importance of having your land in
proper condition and advise early
tall blowing ii possible and plenty
of pulverizing before the ground
freezes UP for the winter The first
work on this land in the spring should
be good disking or pulverizing as
soon Us the frost is out of the ground
You can then wait until about the
10th OF May when the weeds have
gotten we'll started then disk and har.
row until the land is in the best pos
sible condition to receive The seed
| do not want you TO think that you
can only grow alfalfa on fall plow'ing
for one of the best fields OF alfal a
| ever had was sowed on land that
was not piowed until the first OF June.
l narrowed this field just as fast as
it was plowed and had the ground in
as good condition as if we were gong
to plant onion seed or the finest flow
er seed on it.
About the z6th Of august or the 1st
of September you can cut the second
time. If the season has been favor
able for starting alfalfa. you should
get about one ton per acre You ran
NOW within two inches OF the ground
as the crown root has formed by this
time. ! would advise not to cut or
pasture after the 1st Of September
the first season. The alfalfa should
have the balance of the growth to
protect the young plants the first win
ter.