The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1911-03-23
Alfalfa D. Alvin Keyses
Continued from first page)


broadcast. the land may be rolled ard
narrowed once, or in the absence of the
rolser may be narrowed once to cover
the seed.
For the production of seed the best
method is to plant in rows twenty inch
es apar; and thin in the row. More
seed can be produced in this way as the
| irrigation can be done by the furrow
me ethod and thus better controlled. A
part of the moisture control can aIaO
be dcne by cultivation. For seed pro.
duc;ion alfalfa wants only just enough
water TO fill the seed. Too much water
makes hay instead of seed. BY irriga-
ting in burrows which have been logged
out so as to be made smooth, the water
can be exactly controlled.
Alfalfa may be seeded best in the
spring in most Of our irrigated iocaii-
ties. Seeding may. be done from
the middle of March in the Southern
Coloradoand the Arkansas Valley, to
the middle of May in the higher alti-
tudes. 1t may be sowed any time
after danger of [ heavy freezes have
passed.
If nurse crop is used. it must be
remembered that it is, under most con-
iitions, not for the benefit of alfalfa,
out it is used in order to get some re
turns from the land. Oats aud barley
make the best nurse crops because
they shade the land least About forty
pounds of oats or fifty pounds of barley
are sufficient. These should be perfer-
ably cut for hay so as not to shade the
alfalfa too long. On land so sandy that
it is liable to blow during the spring
winds, it is often desirable to use a
nurse crop to assist in preventing this
trouble. On heavy clay or adobe lands
nurse crop will often prevent baking
Under other conditions, it is better not
to use nurse crop.
After the crop is started it should be
given irrigation. Unless it is neces-
sary to clip to get rid of weeds, now
ing needn OF be done until the crown
buds start for the second crop.
One or more irrigations will be re-
quired for each cutting. On deep
loamy lands. one irrigation will be suf-
ficient, on sandy lands more may be
necessary as they do not hold large
supply of water.
After the second Spring it is good
practice to disk once, early in the spring
before the crop starts.
The proper preparation of the soil for
dry land conditions is mores difficult
than Tor irrigated conditions. Under
dry farming, the presence of a suffi-
cient amount of moisture in the seed
bed to start the crop and carry it prac-
tically through the first season is i'm
perative. Every tillage operation
should be made with. this. end in view.
To accomplish this it is often advisable
to practice the summer fallow for one
season. This can be done on the heav-
ier lands but not on very sandy soil. To
practice the summer fallow with the
least work, the land is double disked
early in the spring to preserve tilth and
hold moisture by preventing evap-
oration and keeping down weeds.
If weeds start or if crust forms it is
again disked. Then if,pIowed in late
June..or earlyyuly, ID ean:be put in ex:
cellent tilth with the ..least work,
Weeds rarely ever start after this time.
The soil is best compacted right after
the plow by using the disk and harrow.
The soil is allowed to lie in this condi-
until the following spring when it can
be made into an excellent seed bed by
disking and narrowing.
! If very s}ndy it is. sometimes neces-
sary to grow crop on the land which
will leave high stubble. Wheat and
cane have both been used for this pur-
pose. The seed bed is prepared by
disking in the stubbe.
No matter how the seed bed is pre-
pared it should be well filled with mois-
ture before planting.
On a seed bed well prepared, with
the sub-surface well compacted and
well stored with moisture.tit is safe to
plant any time between about April Is
and September TO-
Every extra alfalfa planted over and
above what is actually needed, becomes
4 weed Consequently light but even