The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-23
BY NJ. A. CROSBY

ura1ly adapted to the production of alfalfa
on a commercial scale is small. Most any
fertile, well drained soil can be made to
produce alfalfa by applying lime in suf-
ficient quantities, but it is extremely
doubtful If there are many sections in
| the state outside of the black prairie belt
and few restricted areas in river bot
toms, where the crop can be successfully
grown on a. commercial scale 1t is my
| opinion, however, that on the majority of
| Alabama farms there may be found a
| few acres of land where alfalfa enough
| for the farm needs may be grown. In our
| humid climate alfalfa requires a deep,
well drained, non-acid soil of good fertil-
| ity. 1t will not succeed on a soil that is
| poorly drained, deficient in lime, or low
| In fertility. To attempt to grow 1t on such
| land without first correcting the deficien-
cies of the soil Is waste of time and
money. Too much emphasis cannot be
| placed on these three requisites. Good
drainage. plenty of lime and a fertile soil
are absolutely essential, and these condi-
tions can be brought about on a limited
| area on nearly every farm in the state.
| Meet the requirements of the crop and it
will grow. Crab grass has been generally
| considered the greatest enemy of alfalfa
| in the south, but recent Investigations
lead us to believe that the presence of
| this grass in a field of alfalfa means one
or BOTH of two things, namely, insuffi-
cient lime, poor drainage. When all
| the requirements of alfalfa have been met
| crab grass will cease to be pest where
| alfalfa is concerned.
The Black Prairie Belt
| The black prairie belt of Alabama and
Mississippi is in many respects the best
| large area of land east of the Mississippi
and south of the Ohio rivers that is emf
nently suited to the production of alfalfa
| In Alabama there are approximately 500,-
| 900 acres in this belt that are adapted
to alfalfa growing, and the bulk of the
alfalfa of the state is produced in this
belt. The alfalfa soils of this belt are
classified as Houston and Trinity clays,
and we speak of them as natural alfalfa
lands owing to the fact that they are
naturally strongly impregnated with lime
OF the two types in their natural state
the Houston clay occupying the higher
| levels of land, is the better adapted to
the growing of alfalfa as it is possessed
| of better natural drainage The Trinity
| clay, comprising about one-third of the
| total area, lies along the creek bottoms,
and usually requires artificial drainage
before it will successfully produce alfal-
| fa When properly drained, however,
this type is by far the most productive
soil in the belt, il not in the state. 1t is
richer in organic matter, has tendency
to retain moisture better during a drouth,
! than does the Houston soils. We have
a record of II acres of this land that has
| been tile drained, and which this year
| produced over seven and half tons of
alfalfa hay to the acre. AT present prices
/ of alfalfa hay this years crop on this field
| has netted the owner a handsome profit,
! in addition to paying the cost of tiling
the land. Tile drainage will also pay on
| the Houston soils, though the areas with
good natural drainage are already pro-
| dueing profitable yields.
While yields of from three to six tons
| to the acre can and are being produced
| by some growers, the average yield for
| the state is low. This is due largely to
| the fact that SO many put their land in
] alfalfa only after it has become so de-
| pleted in organic matter that it will no
/ longer produce corn or cotton This is
| decidedly wrong practice, for, while al
falfa will undoubtedly give better returns
than any other crop that could be planted
on such land, it is too valuable crop to
| be grown on unproductfve soil. Such land
fshould be built up with stable manure,
or by turning under some leguminous
| crop such as melilotus, peas, or soy beans,
| before being sown to alfalfa.
Alfalfa as Soil Improver
Many have made the mistake of SOW
| ing alfalfa on poor land thinking that,
being a legume, the alfalfa would i'm
!
/ duce profitable crops. Alfalfa is most
decidedly not a poor land crop, and it is
only under certain conditions that 1t can
| be considered a soil improver. Where
| the soil is naturally deficient in phos-
phoris acid and potash alfalfa cannot
| be classed as a soil improver, only in
| that it increa ses- the nitrogen content of
the soil, and improves its mechanical
condition. On such soils, If the alfalfa
| is sold and removed from the farm the
| available supply of phosphoric acid and
| potash will gradually be reduced to a
point where it will be necessary to sup
ply them through the application of COM
mercial fertilizer if profitable produc-
| tion of alfalfa is to be maintained. Where
| these elements are supplied, or if the al
falfa be consumed on the farm and the
! animal manures returned to the land,
| then alfalfa will Improve the soil by in
| creasing its nitrogen content, and I'M
proving its mechanical condition through
the organic matter added to it.
On land rich in phosphoric acid and
potash, as is the case in the black prairie
belt alfalfa becomes a splendid srestorer
of soil fertility. An analysis made by the
| bureau of soils of samples of Houston
| clay from Dallas county shows that the
| surface foot of soil contained 50 per cent
| phosphoric acid and 101 per cent potash.
AS the acre foot of soil weighs approx
|
| the surface foot of soil on an acre of this
land contains 20.65O pounds of phosphoric
acid, and $3.50 pounds of potash Now
| one ton of alfalfa hay contains approxi-
matey 1872 pounds of phosphoric acid and
1876 pounds of potash. An average annual
| yield of four tons of alfalfa hay to the
acre would therefore remove from the
land 40.S pounds of phosphoric acid and
| 134.4 pounds of potash. This being true
| the surface foot of this soil contains
enough phosphoric acid, if rendered avail
| able, to produce four tons of alfalfa per
acre each year for 516 years. and enough
potash for the same yields for 263 years.
! But alfalfa is a deep rooted crop and
draws its food supply from several feet
| of soil, hence it is reasonable to believe
that some of the soils of the prairie belt
contain sufficient quantities of these two
elements of plant food for 1000 years of
| alfalfa growing
| On these soils, so abundantly rich in
phosphoric acid and potash, alfalfa, with
its power of adding nitrogen to the land,
| becomes wonderful soil improver. On a
| plantation in Perry county land that was
| producing less than one-third of bale
| of cotton and only IS bushels of corn to
the acre, was sown to alfalfa in March.
The net profits the first year from this
| field were over SIT an acre after paying