Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1913-04-11
AGRICULTURAL NEWS, STATE
COLLEGE BROOKINGS.
r A FOR
PASTURE.

GRASS FOR PERMANENT
PASTURE.
Fl. J. H., OF Turner County, makes
the following inquiry Of the agricul-
ture department. Of the State College:
KINDLY advise me as to what grass
es would be best tosow for permanent
pasture. Land Is level. l also wish to
SOW ten acres alfalfa. This will be
upon ground that was IN pasture
several years, plowed In the fall of
1911, t~op-dressed with manure and
planted to corn in 1912. Would 1t do
to use an ordinary grain drill closed
up tightly for seeding it? How much
seed should be used per acre and
what depth If drill can be used?"
Reply. For permanent pasture
use a mixture Of bronze grass, timothy
and Kentucky blue grass; five pounds
timothy, five pounds Kentucky blue
grass and a pound of alfalfa seed per
acre. Put these In on well prepared
land with three packs of early pats
per acre. II rainfall is plentiful, cut
the bats for grain, and If the weather
is dry, cut the oats for hay to give the
grass a better chance.
"You can SOW alfalfa seed with a
grain drill, providing your particular
drill will close up enough. The seed
can be sown with an ordinary wheat
drill as follows:
Mix about six pounds Of corn meal
to ten pounds of alfalfa seed, and mix
thoroly. The ordinary drill when clos
ed to its finest celebration will sow
about sixteen pounds per acre. Thus
sixteen pounds Of the mixture will
mean ten pounds of alfalfa seed. You
should not use more than eight or
ten pounds per acre, and usually with
a drill it is not possible to SOW as
Ismall an amount as this without a
seeder attachment to the drill. Alfalfa
NAV be put in with a broadcast seed
er after one of the common little
range seeders, or it may be put in by
hand sowing.
81 believe you can raise alfalfa. Ten
acres is, however, a good sized trial
unless you are fully acquainted with
it. frequently advise people to start
in with three to five acres In a strip
along the side of the field, putting In
as much the next year and perhaps
more the following, until the entire
field is put in" By Professor A. N.
Hume, Agronomist, State College,
Bookings.
MARQUIS WHEAT.
A great many inquiries are coming
to the agronomy department. of the
State College regarding Marquis
wheat and apparently a great deal OF
seed is being purchased at Inflated
prices. This variety is a good mill
ing wheat. The berry Is short and
plump, with avdeep furrow, giving 1t
somewhat the appearance OF bluestem
though the berries average shorter
and thicker. 1t has = good record IN
canada where it was originated by Sc
Z lection and has done we'll as for West
as Saskatchewan. The probabilities
are that it is adapted to a, rather cool
short season. Whether it will do we'll
under average South Dakota condi-
lions is a little doubtful. There is no
particular reason to believe that 1t
will do any better than such varieties
as Bearded Red Fife (Velvet Chaf),
or the pedigreed strains of Scoth Fife
or Bluestem such as Minnesota No.
|l63 and Minnesota 1859 respectively. 1t
Is rather a serious matter to intro
duce a new variety of wheat on a
large scale.
For those who like to experiment
and want to try 1t, a small field nf
Marquis wheat is alright bnt for
Large fields it is safer to use varieties
OF known value under South Dakota
conditions. The State College and
Experiment Station will furnish the
local papers with reliable information
about tested varieties during the
spring months. BY Manley Champlin,
Asst. Agronomist. State College.
Occasionally the Experiment. Stat
ion at Brookings gets some peculiar
requests. A few days ago a citizen OF
this State wrote a letter to the Col
lege stating that he had sent away
for samples of whiskey on trail, and
that the said "wet goods made him
very sick. Would the chemist Of the
Experiment Station please inform
him what vas the trouble with the
"stick?" 1t Is not generally known
that a chemical test Of this kind
would cost a great deal of money.
However, in this Instance Professor
Shepard happened to be posted on the
chemical makeup Of the article In
question, and was able to give of
hand the desired Information.