The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-05-25
Starting Alfalfa.

Alfalfa is the king among hay crops
the queen among soil improvers, the
prince among drouth resistant plants.
1t comes nearer to giving something
for nothing than anything else on the
farm. 1t will produce more hay per
acre, and hay of a high feeding value.
While giving that valuable crop of
hay it will at the same time leave
the soil richer in nitrogen and humus
every veal that it occupies the land,
and supplies the very things that the
grain crops take out the fastest and
leaves the soil in the greatest need
of. Still the whole story is not told,
as weeds cannot grow rapidly after the
alfalfa gets a good stand and if they
should grow a little the alfalfa is cut
before the weeds are ripe SO they
cannot go to seed. The roots go deep
and so open up the soil better than
the ~subsoiler. The one advantage in
growing alfalfa is that it is a little
stand is secured it ought to be left
for several years. 1t is not a good
rotation crop alike clover. This is
really no great drawback though, as
it will produce a crop that is worth
more than any other crop that can
be grown.
Alfalfa will grow on any good soil
that is well drained; in sand it will
not do so we'll, and hard pan interiors
with it's root growth. Standing wat
er is death to it. When starting al
falfa it must be kept in mind that al
faIfa has bacteria living in nodules
on it's roots. These germs furnish
the plant with nitrogen which they
take from the soil air. They put it
into a form that the plant can use
and to supply the alfalfa with the nj
trogen that it needs, and more, too.
The alfalfa plant has in a measure
lost the power of taking nitrogen from
the soil as the other crops do, so
it can not make much growth alone.
1t in turn furnishes the germs with
food of a different kind so it is a CO.
operate affair, each furnishing that
which it can secure the easiest.
When the alfalfa is starting it does
have the germs OF it's roots and
so is very delicate and must be given
good care. The best way to do that
is to get some soil from a field that
has been growing alfalfa successful
ly for a few years and SOW it on the
field at the rate of 200 pounds
per acre.
The best way to prepare the soil |
Is to manure for a crop of corn
clean cultivate the corn-then SOW
The alfalfa on the disced corn stub
Die, putting in eight or ten pounds
Der acre-and with the drill so as to
get the seed buried, one to two inches |
not SOW and nurse crop with
It. A bare fallow that has been kent
rec from weeds will also be a good |
as will also potato
ground. But in any case it should be |
MANFRED. When the alfalfa is UT
eight or ten inches 1t should be cut
back. This will not hurt the alfalfa;
in fact, will do it good-but will be |
hard on the weeds. The amount OF |
seeds sown should vary with the rain
fall; under irrigation, or where rain
fall is abundant, more seed than spe-
lifted above should be sown. It has
been found by experiments that where
the plants were nine inches apart
three cuttings were secr-ed in 1870
and the yield was nearly 2 1-2 tons
while the plants were only two inches
apart only one cutting of about half
= ton was secured. In digging out the
roots 1t was found that where the
Giants were far apart the roots went
down seven to eight feet while in the
Ease of the plants that were close to-
the roots did not go down more
than three feet.