The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-03-08

| Viz iohu was ihii plOWcu ulsh odily III
the spri"g IN order 10 conserve mois-
ture Disk again little later to con-
serve moisture and To kill weeds.
Weeds are great enemies Of alfalfa and
frequently they completely choke it
ont the year H. Is sown. After alfalfa
gets u good start it will easily overcome
any of the common weeds with the OK
ception of quack grass and Canada
thistle
I'VE usually recommend the sowing
of twenty pounds per acre of good,
pure, clean alfalfa sepd though if the
soil is thoroughly prepared and in good
condition ten pounds OF seed should
give II very thick and Joe Wing, a
great alfalfa grower of Ohio, recon.
mends the sowing of twenty pounds;
but understand that on his own we'll
prepared thoroughly inoculated soil he
uses but ten pounds per acre. The
seed is small and should be sown about
as deep as you ordinarily SOW clover
seed.
1T is usually recommended to SOW
alfalfa without nurse crop, though
many alfalfa growers wv q light nurse
crop of oats or barley in. case the. soil
Ia rich and in good condition Under
no circumstances should one attempt TO
grow heavy nurse crop with alfalfa
a N buv, ri a
crop is light it is best to cut the nurse
crop early for hay.
LAS alfalfa is legume it has the
power to make use of the free nitrogen
of the air in case the alfalfa plants arr
inOcul4ted. Uninoculated alfalfa can
make no use of this great supply of nit
rogen, con- equently in regions where
alfalfa is not yet been grown extensive.
ly it will be advisable if not absolutely
necessary to inoculate either the soil or
the seed The soil may be inoculated
for alfalfa by the application of 500
lbs. per acre Of soil from an old alfalfa
field that is thoroughly inoculated To
make sure that the old alfalfa field ls
inoculated examine the roots of the al.
falfa plants that are growing there If
these roots are covered with little
nodules the field is inoculated and this
soil will inoculate the new field that is
to be sown to alfalfa. This soil should
be distributed over the new field on a
cloudy dav or late in the afternoon and
narrowed in at once as the direct sun
light will kill alfalfa germs as readily
as it kills germs in the sick room I'm.
less this precaution is taken nothing
will be gained by the application of
this terminated soil. In case alfalfa
soil cannot be readily obtained the seed
may be inoculated by a fluid prepared
for this purpose by our Department in
Washington. This fluid with directions
for using it will be sent out free of cost
to any responsible farmer who is really
trying to get q st and Of alfalfa in SEC
tons where alfalfa is not now generally
grown.
Alfalfa may be grown successfully
in most parts of this state at dates from
early spring until early fall. Probably
the best time to sow the seed is in the
spring after danger Of heavy frost lie
over: Small alfalfa plants are more
tender than small clover plants, conse-
quently I would advise against the very
early sowing Of alfalfa seed. On the
other hand alfalfa plants that are start.
cd in the spring become deep rooted
before fall and are not 80 likely to be
"If all these directions are followed
we should be able to get good stand
Of alfalfa son the average Michigan
farm in any ordinary year. I firmly
believe that we will yet grow this crop
successfully on almost every type of
soil In this state. Our heavy clay soils
and our extremely fiat land will un.
have to be undetermined.