The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-02-28
PALMER Tells HOW
TO GROW ALFALFA
SAYS 1T is KING OF HAY CROPS
AND HAS MANY OTHER SPLEEN.
DID ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO
HAVE BACTERIA ON ITS ROOTS
TO FURNISH NITROGEN.

Alfalfa is the king among hay crops.
the queen among soil improvers. the
prince among drought resisting plants.
says w. c. Palmer OF the A. c. II
comes nearer to giving something for
nothing than anything else on the
farm. 1t will produce more hay per
acre, and hay Of higher feeding value
than timothy, bronze grass, or western
rye grass. In most of North Dakota
it will produce more than clover. and
especially west of the valley, and has
higher feeding value. While giving
that valuable crop Of hay it will at
the same time leave the soil richer in
nitrogen and humus every year that
! 1t occupies the land, and supplies the
very things that the grain crops take
out the fastest and leaves the soil in
greater need of. Still the whole story
| Is not told, as weeds cannot grow
readily after the alfalfa gets a good
stand and If they should grow a lit
tie 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
disadvantage in growing alfalfa is that
it is little difficult to start: so when
a good stand is secured it ought to be
! left for several years. 1t is not a
good rotation crop like clover. This is
really no great drawback though. as
| 1t will produce a crop that is worth
more than any other crop that can be
grown.
Where will alfalfa grow and how
should 1t be started? Alfalfa will grow
on any good soil that is well drained:
| in sand 1t will not do so we'll and hard
| pan interferes with it's root growth.
| Standing water is death to it. When
starting alfalfa it must be kept in mind
that alfalfa has bacteria living in
nodules on its roots. These germs fur
nish the plant with nitrogen which
! they take from the soil air. They put
! it into a form that the plant can use
and so 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
cannot make much growth alone. It
| in turn furnishes the germs with food
Of different kind so it Is CO.
|
which it san secure the easiest. When
the alfalfa is starting it does not have
| the germs on it's roots and so is very
delicate and must be given good care.
| The germs will multiply faster in the
soil if it contains manure, and il the
germs are not in the soil it may be
necessary to introduce them. The
| best way to do that is to get some soil
! FrfN col Ia4 h..
alta successfully for few years and
SOW it on the new field at the rate Of
200 pounds per acre.
| For North Dakota 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 stubble, putting in eight to ten
pounds per acre-and with the drill so
as to get the seed buried, one to two
inches-do not SOW any nurse crop
with it, bare fallow that has been
kept free from weeds will also be a
good proposition, as will also potato
ground. But in any case it should be
MANFRED. When the alfalfa is up
eight to ten inches it should be cut
back. This will not hurt the alfalfa:
in fact will do 1t good-but will be
hard on the weeds Professor Shaw
recommends narrowing the alfalfa
when it is up five to six inches. This
will kill weeds and remake the dust
mulch. When sown with the drill the
plants will be so deeply rooted that it
will not pull out many plants if the
harrow teeth are set with a backward
slant. The amount of seed sown
should vary with the rainfall under
irrigation. or where the rainfall is
abundant, more seed than specified
above should be soWn. 1t was found
at the Dickinson sub-station that
where the plants were nine inches
apart three cuttings were secured in
1910 and the yield was nearly
two and one-half tons. while
where the plants were sown
only two inches apart only one
cutting of about half ton was Sc
cured. In digging out the roots it was
found that where the plants were far
apart the roots went down seven To
eight feet while in the case of the
plants that were close together the
roots did not go down more than
three feet. Another important point
is to have good covering on the field
in the fall to hold the snow.
The best seed to sow Is that which
is northern grown. The Grimm has
proven to be one Of the most hardy
lstrains. However, seed that is north