The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1912-02-01

drained that much of the alfalfa kill
it, and it is impossible to get accu-
rate records from this part. Seed was
cut from the entire field of over 80
acres in 1910 and 1911. The rec
ord was kept for 20 acres of the
field and is as follows:
In 1910. with a precipitation of
9,11 inches from January to the time
the seed was harvested in August,
the acre yield of seed vas 1870 pounds
or over three bushels, giving a finan-
cial return at market value for the
seed of over $50 per acre.
In 1911 from the same 20 acres
was harvested oven $500 pounds of
seed or approximately 296 pounds
per acre, giving a financial return
of over $1,000 per acre.
Only One of Many.
Asked for his opinion as TO wheth-
er Or not the way the field was plant
ed and handled had much to do with
this splendid record, Mr.. Wheeler
said:
The record of this alfalfa is no
better than that of a great many 9TH
er fields in South Dakota. 1t is SIM
ply one instance OF a very profitable
yield. l do not think that this was
entirely due to the fact that the al
falfa was planted in roys, for it has
not been cultivated except by discing
during the past two or three years,
and this method of cultivation can
be followed with any broadcast field.
OF course, the seed was some OF the
hardest varieties known
comparisons are odious,' but it
isn't alfalfa that suffers when COM
pared with wheat, for instance-that
cereal being used as it is one of
South Dakota main crops.
South Dakota's latest l0-year av-
erage of wheat production is 1875
bushels per acre. and to be fair we
are using this although the 1911 av-
eTage was a great deal less.
What Would Wheat Have Done.
Had Mr.. Meyers raised wheat on
this 20 acres-and had it produced
1916 bushels per acrel the l0-year
average, he would have had 252
bushels for which he would have re-
ceived q check for about $239.40.
From this he would have had to de-
duct the cost OF discing, blowing,
dragging, etc, of the seed, seeding,
harvesting, threshing and hauling.
All ne had to deduct from his al
falfa check was the cost OF discing,
) cutting, threshing and hauling.
Had it been wheat he would have
hauled away from the field a good
many doilals' worth of its fertility
its crop-producing power-and hat
Only the straw, which would have
been of little value, as Il b%y-product
In his load of alfalfa he hauled
away little OF the fields original fer
tility, but-and read this twice amy.
way-the growing alfalfa plants ac-
tually added to the crop producing
power of the soil. And he had. too
a by-product which was worth while
the hay and hay is hay" thi:
year.
Doesn't Need Flowing.
When Mr.. Meyers was driving
home with the check snugly tucked
away in his wallet, he wasn't figurins
how he was to find time in the spring
tC pillow that field for another crop
because it doesn't have to be pillow
ed. His mind probably worked alons
d little farther than that. OF course
no one but himself knows what h,
was thinking about, but as he is onl.
! human he probably said to himself
well. John. the old field did prett,
middling good this year; ! guess II
give her an extra discing next year
and maybe they'll have to write il
! some more valuable figures wher,
the ciphers are when they make on
my check neX fall. Oh. Well. thi;
isn't such a bad old world after all
if | did only get about a Thousand
dollars for this load. Gid-dap. tn
folks at home are waiting to see thi;
little, Old slip of yellow paper"
Mr.. Meyers. we congratulate you
YOU are entitled to the congratula
tons of YER citizen of South Dako
ia and OF the Northwest. Yo,
haven't only earned d mighty hand
some profit-you have showed Others
how to do it and thousands beside.
yourself will profit from your thou
sand dollar load