The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1911-02-10
AND RESULTS
IN CULTURE OF ALFALFA,

N'At iSSVltl Ky + Ill IiItuE cOISTGSS
Pierre. S. d.
1 honorable Members of the c o.
VenLion and Visiting Friends: In
+, compliance with the request made By
Speaker Chamberlain, / shall give
YOU short recital of my efforts in
the line of alfalfa culture.
My experience with this great for
age plant oates back to the year 1902
and in that year l tried pound 1
two of seed raised in the Black
Hills. l sowed it on land which hao
been broken up the year before.
The first season it did very well
1t stood thick on the ground ana
was what is commonly termed a
good stand. The winter followins
was very dry and my alfalfa was
nearly killed out Only a few iso.
lated plants which had sprung up in
an adjacent cornfield were left. These
few plants lived for several years
after and became quite large. This
encouraged me.
Two years later / tried two nun
dred pounds of Montana seed. fol-
lowed the general instructions ano
sowed twenty pounds to the acre
with the result that it came up very
thick. The second year it began tic
! die out, and this is on ground that
has since and is now growing good
alfalfa
/ Had it not been for two facts, ]
should have quit the alfalfa culture
/ for good, but this is what kept me
trying. The same year on one little
upland plot l sowed small amount
of Turkestan and an equal amount OF
Montana seed, side by side, giving
the Turkestan the highest and poor
est part of the lot.
| On examination / found that the
Montana was killed out in spots,
while the Turkestan had withstood
the winter we'll, and showed no sign
F., of dying, even though as said be-
fore l had given it to the poorest
ground, higher and dryer While l
had seeded the Turkestan as thick
as the Montana. Luckily, or better
perhaps fortunately, a large per cent
did not come up and so left the stand
thin; but the plants showed great
vigor, stooled out, and made a very
strong root This same little plot is
still alive, and the last year, in spite
of the exceedingly dry summer we ex-
perienced in this part of Stanley
county yielded three abundant
crops of hay. But what became OF
the Montana? Well, it simply be,
came minus quantity. Three years
after seeding there was not a trace
of it left.
Now gentlemen, / want to state
/ what I learned from these expert.
ments. In the first place, ] learned
that Turkestan variety is the best
| for our country west of the river
where the summers are often hot and
/ dry and the winters are variable
and changeable, with generally
| speaking little or no snow. Second
learned this: That one must SEED
thin if one wants to get field Of
strong plants. Five pounds to tho
acre is great plenty. also learn.
ed that one should not expect alfalfa
to be at it's best befire it is three
years old.
I am convinced today, that rlore
men have failed in alfalfa culture
by reason of too thick seeding thar
from any other cause. Seed thin anG
give the plant chance to develop {
strong root and it will grow just a:
many speers of hay as it finds room
for l have counted as many as 15(
spears on one plant. I think tina
one good strong plant to a square
really l think it is enough. On
trip through Colorado and Utah las
August, I noticed in the famous Jor
dan valley that the majority and hes
of the alfalfa fields had the plant
thin on the ground.
l have alfalfa where seeded fiv
pounds to the acre and where
seeded seven pounds. Both this yea
and last the thinly seeded made tn
best seed crops. This year it yielde
me forty dollars per acre for seed
4 consider this country an ideal see
country. Now as to it's feedin
quality. 1t comes nearer to graf
than any other forage plant. Horse
will do hard work on alfalfa ration
and hogs will hold their own an
winter on it.
j I am wintering three hundre
hogs this winter and their grain re
lions is less than one pound of ma
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