Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-06-30
farm and fires'de.
How to Grow Alfalfa.

have obtained satisfactory results.
Many who have made failures have
done so because they have not known
how to plant the crop properly. 1t
is not yet fully determined whether
alfalfa will be an economic success
i'm this state, but in view of the i'm
portation of hay and the wonderful
results that have been obtained In
western states, II Is we'll worth a trial
by any careful farmer. A. G. Smith,
scientific assistant of the United
States department Of agriculture. has
been doing work with alfalfa, and
where his directions for planting
have been carefully followed, good
results have uniformly been obtained.
Any one desiring specific directions
for planting alfalfa can obtain them
by writing him at Columbia. The
following report by s. H. Crum Of
Orangeburg is interesting I'm that 1t
describes his difficulties the first
year and tells how by understanding
the crop a little better he was able to
obtain good results with the second:
~ have one-half acre planted In
alfalfa. In October, 1909. l had corn
and peas on this plot of land, which
is a sandy gray loan, one-half OF
which has soft yellow clay subsoil,
the other half pipeclay. 1t is what Is
called here low sand. but well drain
ed. ] broke this land with two
horse plow' in October, 1909. and
turned a good crop of cowpea vines
along with five two-horse loads oil
stable trash manure. l then broad
casted 1000 pounds of strong build
ers' lime after having first slaked 1t
with water. l also applied 500
pounds of sixteen per cent phosphor-
ic acid and 800 pounds Of muriate OF
potash, all Of which I dish narrowed
in by going several times over the
patch, first one way and then the
other. l also purchased 200 pounds
of alfalfa inoculated soil from the
North Carolina experimental station
and broadcasted that on a damp day,
and narrowed five or six times with a
smoothing or section tooth harrow.
l then sowed fifteen pounds Of alfal-
ia seed and covered it uy dragging
the bushy tops of a small tree over it
several times and in all directions.
I'm due time the seed came up to
a beautiful stand and grew nicely for
a while. when it began to turn a red
dish yellow, and did not seem to
thrive except in small places. How
ever. 1t stood the winter very well,
and in the spring commenced to grow
eight inches when 1 moved it about
May l, 1910. On account of the ex-
tremely wet weather, / did not pre-
tend to cure it, but let it dry on the
ground as moved to decay. 1t did
not turn out but a very small guam
tity of hay the. first cutting. After
that the weather was very wet and
rainy nearly all the time, and the
crab grass grew faster than the al
falfa so II soon had the appearance
Of a crab grass hay. l cut the hay.
which was also lost on account Of
too much rain.
This made my first experience
with alfalfa a failure. but I deter
mined to try again. and in August,
1910. broadcasted ten more two
horse loads Of stable manure on the
same plot of land and turned under
with a two-horse plow. followed by a
two-horse subsoil plow, breaking the
land about eighteen inches deep.
Then narrowed in 1900 pounds
more lime, and 1000 pounds Of S-4-4
fertilizer with a disk harrow. Then
| used a tooth harrow several times
more until I got 1t as smooth as a
garden. intended to plant seeds in
September. but was unable to get the
seed in before October Is. when /
disk narrowed again and also used
the tooth harrow until I made the
first two inches of soil very firm. In
my opinion it was a perfect seed bed.
Then l broadcasted by hand twenty
pounds of seed and covered as before
with a drag-brush. This also came
up beautifully and grew fine until the
frost came i'm January.
This spring, during March and
April, it grew off beautifully without
having any red or yellow appearance
as 1t did last year. but kept perfectly
green until April Is, when / cut 1t
and cured 720 pounds of dry hay
from the half acre. About one week
after moving the patch was green
again and grew fine until May 20,
when / cut it again and secured 790
pounds of dry hay. After the sec
ond cutting the drought came on, and
it did not grow any more. but did not
die. although ! thought IL would. We
got a good rain on June l, 1911,
which started il off. 1t is now grow
ing fine, about six inches high, just
as green all over as can be, and not
a sprig of grass or weeds can be
found. 1t is simply such a thick stand
that nothing else will. or can grow.
The half that has yellow clay subsoil
grows much faster and taller than
the other half which is pipeclay sub
soil | have concluded that 10 sue
ceed with alfalfa requires a very
rich and perfect seed bed. well linn
ed. and above all we'll inoculated,
thickly seeded and moved every time
il blooms. Am happy to say that my
little half acre is complete success
so far. 1t has cost me about SIS. 1t
is my intention to plant more. and l
think ] know how now. and have lots
of inOculated soil TO put on my next
planting. columbia State.
Advantages of Silage.