The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-24

was ready to seed alfalfa in the fall | I would seed it, and if I was ready | to seed alfalfa in the spring I would | seed it. You are just as liable to get | a good catch one season as the other | Use plenty Of good stable manure
 and put it on top after you have blow ed. A great many will tell you the weed seeds are bad; so they are, but | would rather have the manure on | top of the ground and take my chance with the weeds than to blow it under
 I generally lime with about one to 11z tons good, well-slaked lime to the
 acre. I like to spread my lime imme- | diately after blowing on the furrow,
 as cutaway harrow works it well | into the soil. I also like to lime at | least thirty days before I SOW my seed
 and where I am going to SOW in the | spring I lime in the fall and give it a | good opportunity to penetrate the soil | and get thoroughly incorporated in the | soil.
 Many farmers hold up their hands | in horror when you talk about bacte- 1 ria because it is a scientific eXpres- sion. Certainly it is, and I have not 1 the least idea what it means; but l know this, that you cannot grow al- falfa successfully unless you spread the field with not less than 800 pounds and better, 1000 pounds of soil from a successful alfalfa field. (Some use special cultures). This should be spread the last thing before you SOW your seed. Spread it evenly and uni formly. It is a good idea to run a spike-tooth harrow or brush over the field after you sow the bacteria, in order that it may be we'll spread. I like to SOW not less than twenty
 to thirty pounds good seed to the acre. l SOW my seed with a. drill broadcast | much seed when. sowed with a drill
 as it does to sow by hand. After the seed is sown I roll the field, and that is all I do. The roller will bury the alfalfa seed as deep as is necessary, in fact, alfalfa seed does not need to
 be very far below the surface of the soil.
 WHEN AND HOW TO CUT. Everybody knows when to cut al- falfa-just as soon as you can see the sprouts start from the roots Cut it in the morning and let it wilt. In the afternoon cock it up in small cocks, put cap over it, and let it stand from three to six days. In oth- CT words, cure it in the cock for the same reason that our grandmothers cured boneset and catnip in the dark ness of the attic. Cure your alfalfa
 under cap and the leaves will ad- here to the stalks. The leaves are the best part of the alfalfa.
 I have found great relief from weeds grass and foreign matter by thor
 oughly cultivating the alfalfa in the spring before it starts. Do not cul- tivate alfalfa that is less than two years old. When that old it has good, heavy taproots, and while culti- vation will take out the grass and weeds, it does not seem to injure the alfalfa.
 COST OF RAISING ALFALFA
 It costs just as much to raise al- falfa as it costs to raise clover, no more and no less. There is no differ ence in preparing the land for alfalfa than preparing the land for clover There is practically no soil in New England but what must be lined for clover. and the same application of lime will do for alfalfa. I have seen good crops of clover grown without any bacteria, but it is the exception and not the rule. The application of bacteria soil for alfalfa is an infinites- imal expense, but it is absolutely nec- essary for a good crop of alfalfa. Bac- teria soil costs $10 to $20 per ton. In my own experience I make alfalfa land very rich before I SOW my seed and while have some fields of alfal- ia that are six years old and doing well, I never have made any applica- tion of any kind of fertilizer as yet to these fields. The Minnesota ex- pertinent station says it costs $15 to S20 per acre to grow crop of corn, It costs a little bit more to seed a field of alfalfa than it does to plant a field of corn, but not enough to make any very appreciable difference.
 For some unexplained reason, when you talk bacteria and lime and inocu- lation to the average New England farmer, he seems to think it is some thing far beyond his reach, and he is very apt to get frightened, and finally exclaims in disgust: "Confound the stuffs let some of those fellows that have more money than brains experi- ment with it-I will wait until they can get the process simplified.'' To these good friends I would say there is nothing about raising alfalfa which is anyway impossible to you or to any other man that has common sense. myself have made failures enough through ignorance so as now to avoid some of the obstacles, and when you know where to look for these obsta- cles they are generally avoided.
 It is a fact that you can raise from fifteen to twenty tons green alfalfa to the acre. Every New England far mer knows that a crop of corn si- lage that weighs twelve to fifteen tons to the acre is a good crop. I know from experience that I can start successful field of alfalfa as cheaply as can raise a good field of corn. AL falfa lasts practically indefinitely. Now then, my good neighbors, is this crop not worth experimenting upon? In fact, is there any experiment about it? I say no. Here is a crop that will give New England farmer larger yield in dollars per acre than any other crop except tobacco. Here is a crop that will give you more