Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-09-06
ALFALFA ON IOWA SOIL
ID. III. Hughes of Iowa Agricultural
College Tells How it Should
be Cared For.
GROWN SUCCESSFULLY HERE
BY Following Few Simple Direc-
tions Concerning Seed Bed
and Seeding Success is
Assured.

OH nearly ali iowa SOllS pTOFIuluS
that proper methods are followed.
The fact that few men have not
succeeded with the crop in their first
attempt should not discourage any,
as the per cent of failures is prob
ably not much greater than the per
cent of failures in securing stand
of crops with which we are thorough
ly familiar, such as red clover, tim
othy, etc. Inquiries recently made
by the Iowa state college indicate
that alfalfa is producing large yields
of hay of the finest quality on almost
every soil in the state.
Alfalfa has been successfully
grown on the college farm and on
the experiment station fields for
number of years. Two fields which
are still in alfalfa this season may be
mentioned as indicative of what may
reasonably be expected.
On the college dairy farm a field
of 1-2 acres was seeded in August,
1908. In 1909 and again in 1910
three cuttings were made with a to-
tai yield of 1-2 tons per acre each
year. In 1910 the field also gave
considerable pasturage. This season
the first crop was cut on June 18th
with an average yield of ga tons
per acre for the whole piece.
| A plot on the farm crops expert
mental fields, seeded August 1S,
1908 gave three cuttings with 5.25
tons per acre in 1910, and the first
cutting this year gave 2.25 tons per
acre, of field cured hay.
| ipo hAv
of farmers have been conducting CO.
operative experiments with the Iowa
experiment station in order to deter
mine what methods should be en-
ployed in order to secure the best
results. These men are located in
almost every section of the state, and
dealt with all sorts of soil condi-
tions, yet wherever the most approx
ed methods were followed, without
exception, excellent stands were Sc
cured and the yields thus far this
season have been very satisfactory.
While the results of these tests, to-
gether with other alfalfa investiga-
tions are reported in bulletin soon
to be issued by the station, they may
be briefly stated here for the benefit
of those who contemplate putting in
alfalfa this fall.
Because of the large and very
rapid growth made by the alfalfa
plant, it is essential that it shall
have large supply of readily avail
able fertility. 1t is necessary there
fore that alfalfa should be seeded on
soil rather above the average for the
best results. Most good corn land
when properly handled, will grow al
falfa successfully providing that it is
we'll drained and sweet
1t is useless and unwise to attempt
to grow alfalfa on land which is not
thoroughly well drained, either nat
urally or by the use or tile or
bitches Some of the best results
have been secured On bottom lands
as these are likely to be quite fer
tile, but no matter how much avail
able fertility is present, an attempt
to grow alfalfa without good drain
age is almost sure to result in fail
ure.
Many fertile upland soils are not
suitable for alfalfa growing, owing
to the presence, too near the surface
of a compact, tenacious subsoil so
impervious to water as to prevent
proper drainage.
While good stands and yields of
alfalfa have frequently been secured
on fertile soils without the aid of
manure yet these yields are in almost
every case largely increased by it.
On soils which are only medium in
fertility manure is essential to sue
cess, and on soils below the average
in fertility, successful stands are
practically never secured without its
liberal use. The use of manure is
by far the most important factor in
securing successful results with al
falfa on Iowa soils.
Ten to twelve tons per acre OF well
rotted manure should be applied be-
fore blowing for alfalfa.
To insure the best possible stand
of alfalfa, the land chosen for the
crop should be plowed in the spring
following the application of the man
ure, and worked down into good con-
dition at once. The field should then
be narrowed or disked at least every
two weeks in order to insure ger
minating, and killing as many of the
weed seeds present as possible, and
also to conserve the moisture.
1t is not necessary however, to
give up an entire season to securing
stand, though this is the surest
method. Manure may be applied
and the land plowed Immediately fol-
lowing the cutting of winter wheat,
or a first year crop of red clover or
oats cut early for hay. When this
treatment has been given as soon
following the removal of the crop as
possible, it has almost never failed
to give good results, even though the
summer be rather dry.
The necessity of thoroughness in
this preparation, however, cannot be
over emphasized. Unless the land is
prepared early in the summer and
then a good mulch maintained, there
will be great danger of an INSULT
cient supply of moisture to Insure
termination Then again alfalfa will
not fight weeds, and unless the soil
is stirred often, in this way bringing
the weed seeds to the surface and
terminating them before the alfalfa
crop is put in, difficulty and possible
failure is the result. Further, while
the surface soil should be very well
fined and loose, the subsurface
should be rather compact. Late and
insufficient preparation means a
looea seed he'd with more driving out,