The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-24

l6 z xA ' A40O G OxG 4 x4 "A ia can be grown in Connecticut; that 1t can be grown on almost any soil except where it Is wet and damp and swampy. I have grown alfalfa on al most every other soil with marked success, but I never tried it on low, swampy ground.
 YIELD AND FEEDING VALUE. What is the yield and feeding val ue-caSh value per acre? The Wiscon- sin experiment station says: "One acre alfalfa yields as much protein as three acres of clover or as nine acres tim othy."
 The Colorado station made a com- parson between corn and alfalfa and found the alfalfa yielded $500 pounds pounds in the corn (per aere9 The New Jersey station reported a yield of 26.6 tops green forage from acre of ll-established field of alfal- ia. Dr. Voorhees,, the director, esti- mates that this acre Of alfalfa yield ed as much crude protein as is con- tained in 1-2 tons wheat bran.
 The New York station, in bulletin 118 compared the alfalfa yield per acre with other crops and found it much more profitable in quantity and quail ity than any of our ordinary crops. The New Jersey station, in bulleton 14S, makes the same comparison with the same identical results.
 We sometimes hear of fields of corn that will yield ,2O tons green stalks or silage corn per acre. Every far mer that has common sense and a just value of his crops knows that is a pretty good field of silage corn. The experiment stations as above noted, tell us that alfalfa will yield Inc riaI1 La 0en n per acre, I will guarantee that the al- falfa over a period of ten years will not cost one-tenth as much for labor as corn.
 Professor Coburn in his book on al- falfa published by Orange Judd Com- panyl gives a large amount of data from the various experiment. stations as to the feeding value of alfalfa by practical tests with other crops. The results are astonishing. All authori- ties who have investigated this sub- Ject in a scientific way give the same results. General Phelps Montgomery of New Haven, Ct, who has a farm at Mt. Carmel. and raises considerable alfalfa, tells me that alfalfa hay sub stituted for any other kind of hay will increase the milk yield of his herd by 10 per cent. My own exper- fence conforms to this for no matter what am feeding my cows, if I sub stitute alfalfa hay for the roughage. it immediately shows in the increase of milk.
 I am not a scientific farmer, neither am I a chemist. and at times I am very much puzzled by some of the data issued by our experiment stations. But if I have read all of these reports and these various articles above re- ferred to Professor Coburns book in- cluded) correctly, they mean that al fo1 @o G. tons green food per acre and from four to six tons cured alfalfa hay per acre, and that this green food and this hay have a greater feeding value for horses, for cows, for sheep and for pigs than practically any other crop raised In other words, the feeding value of alfalfa per acre is greater than any mers can raise.
 HOW TO RAISE ALFALFA.
 I do not believe it makes very much difference whether alfalfa is seeded in the fall or in the spring. I have had marked success, in fact, some Of the best alfalfa that I have was seed- ed in the fall and some of the worst failures that I have ever had have been from fall seeding winterkilling The alfalfa that I seeded during the spring of 1910, both with oats and with beardless barley, was in every case marked success. I am rather inclined to favor beardless barley rather than oats, because the barley plant does not offer as much shade. I never have Sowed alfalfa in drills-I have seen it advocated, but cannot under stand where there is any advantage whatever.
 Last spring I seeded six acres al- ,falfa with beardless barley On good, well-manured land that had been thor oughly inoculated and Timed. I cut the barley for hay and had about 2k tons of we'll cured barley had to the acre-25 per cent. of this was alfal- ia. Soon after this crop was housed, that is, within a week after the cut ting, there came a heavy rain, and later I cut not less than two tons per acre of wen-cured alfalfa hay from with twitch grass. It is there yet. and I expect in time it will give me more trouble. but it is only in one spot. On other parts of the field the alfalfa was comparatively free from weeds.
 HOW ALFALFA WATERFALLS.
 Alfalfa winterxills because the ground heaves with the action of the frost and the little rootlets are brok- en off. Last winter was about the worst I can recall for a number of years for new seeded alfalfa, because we had a series of rains and thaws and then freezing weather. I have twenty-six acres that was seeded in the fall and I am rather inclined to think it will be ruined, while if we had had early snow and it had stayed on the ground, I believe the alfalfa would have gone through in good shape. On the other hand, if the alfalfa sowed in the spring does not get good start before the dry wealth CT comes on, that hurts it, and if I