Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1913-01-16
: FARMERS INSTITUTE Gu.
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per day there is no better balanced
ration than corn-silage and alfalfa.
1t is the most practical and the most
economical and alfalfa is the best
subsoiler known because OF the large
root growth.
To get started with alfalfa, COM
mence carefully. The experience
gained with the first few acres will be
profitable to you in handling larger
fields later. The easiest way to start
is on land where you have had hoe
crop, beets, potatoes, corn or beans,
and have the ground fairly free from
weeds. Manure it in the fall, pillow
early i'll spring and keep it worked
until the first OF June. Sow alfalfa
between the first and tenth of June
whenever the weather is right Just
before a rainstorm is ideal. ii the
ground is dry, wait for the right wea-
ther even if it is after the tenth. III
you can put i'll 100 pounds of fertilizer
10 the acre when you SOW, SO much
the better Test your soil to see
whether or not it is acid. You can
do this yourself. Get piece of blue
litmus paper from your druggist.
Take handful of the soil just moist
enough to adhere or pack i'll your
hand. Place the litmus paper in it.
If your soil is acid, the paper will
turn from blue To red. If it does not
change color the soil is practically
free from acid. If the test shows
that there is acid in your field or GER
tain portions of it, then its condition
must be rcmedied, for neither clover
nor alfalfa will grow in an acid soil.
An application of caustic lime, or
better, ground limestone, will correct
this acid condition. The ground lime
stone is best because much safer.
Even a large quantity will not in
jure the soil. Sometimes new soil as
well as old contains acid. 1t is al
ways best to test unless the field has
recently been producing heavy clover.
Then you are reasonably safe This
ground limestone is soon to be OBJ
tanned from Rogers City.
Next, i'll the matter of seed, send
sample before you buy to the Ag-
rcultural College and have it tested.
In this way save yourself from hav-
ing to remove foul weeds from your
farm. Put your seed in and have it
all covered. Sometimes it may be
best to drill it. One year alfalfa
which we sowed Saturday was up
Monday afternoon SO it could be seen
all over the field, and six weeks later
we cut our first crop.
For proper incubation. obtain some
soil from an old alfalfa field or a
sweet clover patch. Sweet clover is
no longer a weed, but closely allied
to alfalfa and under proper treatment
yields valuable results For 25c the
Agricultural College will send you
enough alfalfa culture for a bushel of
seed il II is not convenient for you
TO inoculate your soil by the other
methods. Sometimes a good stand of
alfalfa is obtained without incubation,
but tins is the surcst way. 1t helps
the plants through the first winter,
and after that each plant develops a
icOl SNiii dNNOlbilS ~ us SlOWlu.
If you have not the nerve to grow
alfalfa SOW some with your clover
and after few years you will have
your whole farm inoculated
In gathering the crop, have ex-
perienced no trouble in seven sea-
sons, cutting three times each sea-
son, and each cutting producing from
three to four tons per acre. This
crop is worth Sis to SEQ per ton, SO
do not get scared il it don't look good
the first year. Try it three years at
least. Alfalfa is like a colt and at
tains its best growth in about three
years, but will continue to carry its
owner through many years OF con-
slant service. Clover is like the pig;
it may be brought to full maturity in
six months. The work of handling
an alfalfa crop is less than that OF
other crops, and is more valuable for
either money or stock. 1t seldom
pays to SOW earlier than June.
The years 1911 and 1912 have been
ideal for alfalfa.
Responding to the question as to
alfalfa affecting tile, Mr.. Moore stated
that such was not the case. That he
had taken up tile from old alfalfa
fields only Is inches deep and there
were no roots in the tile.
On the question OF interference
with the rotation of crops, he asked
if field of ten or fifteen acres would
interfere with the rotation on farm
Of eighty or one hundred acres.
Mr.. Moore recommended thin seed
ing as best. using not more than ten
pounds per acre. If orchard grass
was used not more than ten pounds
per acre of the combination. This
would allow space for the proper de-
velopment of the plants.