Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-04-25
farm aud firesidr.
Growing Alfalfa.

From a publication of the national
department of agriculture we CLEAN
the following:
In a recent bulletin of the Virginia
station, by A. NJ. Soule and Meade
Ferguson. it is stated that alfalfa is
being grown with success in various
parts of Virginia and the indications
are that it will do we'll in humid cli-
mates providing the soil is brought
into suitable conditions for its
growth"
A bulletin of the Wisconsin station,
by r. A. Moore and others, states that
alfalfa can be grown successfully un-
der proper conditions in all counties
of Wisconsin, No forage plant
has so pre- eminently come to the
front in the state during the past five
years as has alfalfa" In experiments
at the Wisconsin station alfalfa gave
much larger yields and more protein
per acre than clover, timothy, or
broom grass.
The essentials of successful alfalfa
culture in the eastern United States
are, briefly summarized, as follows:
Deep we'll drained soils with porous
subsoils are best suited to alfalfa. OBJ
servations made by the New York
Cornell station indicate that the up
land stony and shaly loan soils in
the northern twO-thirds of the state
are better suited to alfalfa than the
soils in the southern third, which are
generally compact shaly silt and clay
loans with a dense subsoil. Good
yields of alfalfa have also been Sc
cured on gravels and gravelly loans.
The soil should be we'll supplied with
lime (although applications of this
substance have not always proved
beneficiaD, as we'll as with potash
and phosphoric acid, and if it is not
we'll inoculated there should also be
an abundance of readily available nj
trogen present. The soil may he in
oculated Cd by means of infected soil,
or (2) by the use of pure cultures OF
the nitrogen fixing organisms. In the
first method soil from a field in which
alfalfa has grown and produced
abundant root tubercles is scattered
over the field at the rate Of 100 pounds
per acre just before the seeding. The
second method is fully described In
a farmers bulletin of this department
Farmers Bulletin 293. In experiments
made by the New York Cornell sta
ton the first method was almost uni
formly successful, leading to the con-
clusion that this method of inocula-
ton when needed will not fail of Civ
ing results unless the soil is in such
condition that the bacteria can not
live in it."
1t is absolutely essential that the
young plants especially should have
the most favorable conditions possible
for growth, for as G.. A. Billings of the
New Jersey station says:
The young alfalfa plant is one of
the weakest among farm crops, grows
slowly, is easily checked or killed by
weeds, or by unfavorable conditions
of the soil, weather, or treatment.
The seed bed is therefore of prime i'm
portance, and the greatest care must
be taken to give the young plants
plenty of available plant food and best
soil conditions for the first year Of
their growth.
The treatment of the field for the
season preceding should be such as to
effectually subdue all weeds, and
cause the sprouting and destruction of
weed seeds in the soil. Care should
be taken not to introduce them with
manure. Apply manure, therefore on
the previously titled crop or after the
alfalfa crop is established.
The soil should be thoroughly pre-
pared-this is important-to secure
a good stand. For spring planting, 1t
is preferable to plow in the fall. If,
however, alfalfa is to be planted on
land freshly plowed, the surface should
be firmed with a roller, then fined to
a depth of three inches to prevent loss
of moisture. Provided the surface Is
kept pulverized, the longer the seeding
is delayed after plowing the better,
and many failures may be due to care
less work at this time"
Summer or fall seeding following
thorough tillage often proves prefera-
BILE to spring seeding, which is more
likely to be choked out by weeds.
Somewhat heavier seeding GO to 80
pounds per acre. than is common in
the west has generally been found
preferable for the east. Liberal ap-
plications of barnyard manure are
especially beneficial to alfalfa.
With early seeding on very weedy
land it may be beneficial to seed with
a nurse crop; with late seeding the
nurse crop may be omitted.
In the above it would appear that
all east of the Missouri river is put in