The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1911-08-15
KING OF HAY CROPS
Alfalfa Is One of Best Drought
Resistant Plants. ~- g..
Crop Comes Nearer to Giving some
thing for Nothing Than Anything
Else on Farm-AIso I'M
proves the Soil.
(By w. c. PALMER.)

(By w. c. PALMER.)
Alfalfa is the king among hay
crops, the queen among soil improv-
ers. the prince among drought resist
ant plants. 1t comes nearer to giving
something for nothing than anything
else on the farm. 1t will produce
more hay per acre, and hay OF high
feeding value. While giving that val
liable crop of hay it will at the same
time leave the soil richer in nitrogen
and humus every year that 1t occupies
the land, and supplies the very things
that the grain crops take out the fast
est and leaves the soil in the greatest
need of. Still the whole story is not
told, as weeds cannot grow readily
after the alfalfa gets good stand and
if they should grow little the alfalfa
Is cut before the weeds are ripe so
they cannot go to seed. The roots go
deep and SO open up the soil better
than the subsoiler. The one disadvan-
tage in growing alfalfa is that 1t is
little difficult to start; SO when a
good stand Is secured it ought to be
left for several years. 1t is not a
good rotation crop like clover This
is really no great drawback though, as
it will produce crop that is worth
more than any crop that can be
grown.
Alfalfa will grow on any good soil
that is we'll drained; in sand it will
not do so we'll, and hard pan interior
feres with it's root growth. Standing
water is death to it. When starting
alfalfa 1t must be kept in mind that
alfalfa has bacteria living in nodules
on its roots. These germs furnish
the plant with nitrogen which they
take from the soil air. They put it
into form that the plant can use
and so supply the alfalfa with the nitro
gen that it needs and more too. The
! alfalfa plant has in a measure lost
the power of taking nitrogen from the
soil as the other crops do, SO it can
not make much growth alone. 1t in
turn furnishes the germs with food
of different kind SO it is co-opera-
tive affair, each furnishing that which
1t can secure the easiest
When the alfalfa is starting it does
not have the germs on it's roots and
Sc is very delicate and must be given
good care. The best way to do that
is to get some soil from field that
has been growing alfalfa successfully
for few years and SOW 1t on the new
field at the rate of 200 pounds pei
acre.
The best way to prepare the sol
is to manure for crop of corn-clear
cultivate the corn-then SOW the al
falfa on the disked corn stubble, put
ting in eight to ten pounds per acre
and with the drill SO as to get thu
seed buried one to two inches-do no
SOW any nurse crop with it. A barr
fallow that has been kept free from
weeds will also be a good prepare
ton, as will also potato ground. Blu
in any case it should be manured
When the alfalfa is up eight to tel
inches it should be cut back. This will
not hurt the alfalfa; in fact will do
goOd-but will be hard on the weeds
The amount of seed corn sown shout
vary with the rainfall; under irriga
ton, or where the rainfall is abundan,
more seed than specified above shout
be sown. 1t has been found by e.
periments that where the plants wer
nine inches apart three cuttings wer
secured in 1910 and the yield was neal
ly az tons, while where the plant
were only two inches apart only on
cutting of about half a ton was Sc
cured. In digging out the roots
was found that where the plants wer
far apart the roots went down seve
to eight feet while in the case of tn
plants that were close together tn
roots did not go down more tina
three feet.