The Penn's Grove record., 1914-10-30

man,
prepared by the United States Depart
ment of ~Agriculture.)
Alfalfa, one of the oldest and most
widespread of crops, can be grown
In this country as far as climate is
concerned, in every state, but in the
humid sections it is very ~exacting in
the character of soil and treatment
required The following list.of "don'ts,
published by the U. S. department
of agriculture in Farmers Bulletin
NO. 339 will, therefore, be of interest:
Ten Don'ts for the Alfalfa Grower.
Don't fail to provide for ample in
oculation.
Don't sow poor or weedy seed.
Don't sow on a weedy soil.
Don't SOW on any but a sweet, we'll
lined soil.
Don't SOW on poorly drained soil.
Don't SOW on any but a f~inely-pre-
pared, well-settled seed bed.
Don't pasture the first or second
year.
Don't lose the leaves; they consti-
tute the best part of the hay.
Don't seed a large acreage to be-
gin with. Experiment on a small area
first.
Don't give up. Many prominent al
falfa growers finally succeeded only
after many failures.
The first essential, as these "don'ts"
show, is proper soil. A deep, fertile,
w~ell-drained soil, rich in lime and
reasonably free from weeds is indis-
pensable, and it is useless to attempt
to grow alfalfa on any other kind of
land. The lack of any one of these
qualities is very apt to be the cause
of failure especially in the East and
South, where at best alfalfa is pro-
duced with some difficulty.
The plant is a deep-feeding one and
usually sends its roots down many
feet to obtain food and. moisture
which are out of reach of the shallow
rooted crops. On soil that lacks
depth alfalfa is unable to utilize its
deep-feeding roots and is, therefore,
less able to Withstand the attack of
surface-feeding weeds. An exception
to this seems to be found in the case
of soils that are underlaid by lime
stone at a depth of some eighteen
inches or two feet.
Weeds are, in fact, one of the
greatest enemies of alfalfa. The
young plants are very tender and are
apt to be killed during their early
stages of growth. For this reason it
is good practice to raise some cult
waited crop or the ground for two or
three before alfalfa Is plant
ed. If this is not practicable some
such crop as cowpeas, which natural
ly prevent the growth of weeds. can
be seeded. Alfalfa sown in the spring
is especially susceptible to harm
from weeds, and spring seeding, there
fore, should be avoided wherever pos
sible. 1t is, however, preferable in
Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Da-
kotas where any but spring or early
summer stands are very apt to win
terkill. In general, the principle un-
OCA ms LAO t11l1O VI OSSQI1S Is W SUN
as far in advance as possible of what
promises to be the most trying season
for the young plants. In the East
and South a late summer seeding is
usually best. This enables an earlier
crop to be removed from the land
and gives alfalfa ample time to make
a growth before the winter sets in: a
fact which gives the plants a good
start in the following spring. and aids
them successfully to resist the inroad
of weeds.
The conditions that determine the
time for seeding alfalfa indirectly de-
termine also the crops which should
precede it. Where late summer seed
ing is practiced a truck crop which
natures early will enable one crop
to be secured that season and still
allow time for the preparation of the
land for alfalfa. Under such circum-
stances the fertilizer demanded by
the truck crop will probably be sufh-l
cient for the alfalfa. Another method
which has the advantage of Kidding
the soil of weeds, although it is not
so economical in its use of land. is
to plant a clean-culture crop, such as
corn, cotton or tobacco. These crops
also require heavy applications of
manure, and the culture given them
Will destroy any weeds that may have
been introduced with the manure
Ordinarily it is impossible to get
these crops off the land in time for
late summer seeding of alfalfa and it
is consequently good practice to seed
a green manure crop, such as hairy
vetch or clover, which can be cut for
hay in the following spring, the Stub
BILE plowed under and the land then
prepared for alfalfa.
The efficiency of green manure
crops in increasing the humus content
of the soil makes them especially val
liable as a preliminary crop for al
falfa. If the soil is not fortified in
this way, or does not obtain the bene-
TT OF manure used for previous cash
crops, well-rotteG barnyard manure or
commercial fertilizers must be en-
ployed if the best results are hoped
for. 1t must always be borne in mind
that alfalfa requires rich soil. 1t can
not be grown on any kind of land
that happens to lie handy for the
farmer. On the other hand, with
proper conditions and care it's weld
will be sufficient to justify the use
of the richest and best drained land
nm the farm Tn fho Eact - T.; u.u-
best to develop the fertility of some
of the high, rolling land and seed
that. Bottom lands should be avoid