The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1914-05-14
FARMERS inter-
ESTED in ALFALFA
PROF. CRANE ADDRESSES A
SPLENDID MEETING HERE
THURSDAY.
commercial CLUB FILLED
OVER so FARMERS DRIVE OYER
BAD ROADS TO HEAR ABLE
ADDRESS. :.
COMMERCIAL CLUB FILLED

In may ways the best meeting ever
held by the Sank Centre Commercial
Club was that of last Thursday even
ing at which time Prof. Crane, head
OF the Agricultural department of the
Great Northern Railroad, delivered an
address on Alfalfa.
When Vice President Cooper called
the gathering to order shortly after
$3.50 there were about 100 present,
over half of which were farmers.
Mr.. Crane is not a stranger to the
people of Sank Centre and commun-
lty. He started out by making the
statement that alfalfa took more out
of the soil than any other plant
known. 1t was also worth more for
feed than any other food that came
out of the soil. 1t was not as good as
bran for stock feeding purposes, but
if bran was worth $22 per ton, the
food value of alfalfa would be worth
SIG or SIT.
While alfalfa took more out of the
soil than any other plant grown it all
so replaced more in the soil than any
plant known to scientists.
Land for alfalfa growing should be
plowed in the fall; the earlier the bet
ter, preferably in August. After
blowing, IL big loads of well rotted
barn yard manure should be applied
to the soil. "Well prepared soil is
half of the CROP" said Mr.. Crane. Fol-
lowing the spreading of the manure
he would disc it into the ground if
possible.
The speaker said it was possible to
grow alfalfa successfully on spring
blowing but it meant much more la
Dor. The blowing should be shallow,
if done in the spring, but thorough.
Following this the land should be
thoroughly disced as often as was
necessary to place the field in garden
shape conditions Spring blowing
should be packed; Keller will not do
the business because it does not
pack the sub-soil. A disc is the best
implement to use in the packing Of
the Land. For this purpose the discs
slssald be placed straight ND and cut
deeper than for ordinary purposes
The manure used I'm the spring
should also be thoroughly rotted
In answer to a question Mr.. Crane
said that this experience had demon
strated to his satisfaction that fall
blowing was the best for any kind Of
a crop. He said the soil this year was
in splendid condition because there is
plenty of moisture. Land intended for
alfalfa should be disced and narrowed
at least once a week until the time
came for sowing Of alfalfa. He said
alfalfa could be planted at any time
in the spring but best results were OBJ
tanned by seeding from June 10th to
18th. He said that June planting
made it possible to kill off the tirst
crop of weeds before seeding alfalfa.
Speaking of quack grass Mr.. Crane
said that alfalfa could not be success
fully grown on a field filled with
quack.
Alfalfa will not grow or germina.e
in an acid or sour soil. "MOst of the
sandy soils of Minnesota" he said,
"are sour" It was generally suppOs-
ed that the low lands of the state
were sour. But the speaker insisted
that this impression was wrong be-
cause the low lands were filled with
calcium carbonate which supplied the
ingredients for fertilization furnished
by lime. When lime is required, from
two to three tons per acre were or
dinarily used. However, he doubted
that if any of the lands in this sec
ton would require over 1000 pounds
and a great deal of it had required
the properties for alfalfa growing.
Mr.. Crane warned the farmer not to
use the regular plasterers lime direct
from the barrel as this would burn up
the soil. The experts working out OF
Sank Centre would be glad to demon
trate to the farmer how to prepare
his field for alfalfa growing and also
test their soil and see where it was
deficient.
In speaking of land conditions MIR.
Crane said that he had travelled ex-
tensively over the Northwest as well
as the Central and Eastern portions
of the country and that nowhere was
the land for all purposes as good as
right in this section of Minnesota. lie
said that the Great Northern road
was absolutely selfish in this agricul-
tural campaign they were carrying on
for the benefit of the farmers. Better
crops meant more stock and increased
business for the railroad company.
He urged the farmers to buy seed
only of reliable dealers. He recon-
mended the patronizing OF local iner,
chants because they could not afford
to sell seed that was not the best 70
be had. He said he had examined the
seed offered for sale in Sank Centre
and was quite certain that 1t was as
good as could be secured anywhere.
Nothing but Northern grown seed
should be used and he said the farm