The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1914-10-29

commercial fertilizers must be en-.
ployed II the best results are hoped
for. II must always be borne In mind
that alfalfa requires rich soil. II 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 its yield
will be sufficient to Justify the use
OF the richest and best drained land
on the farm In the East 1t IL usually
best to develop the fertility of some
Of the high. rolling land and seed
that. Bottom lands should be avoid
ed; not only is the danger from weeds
on such soils greater. but alfalfa abb
solptely requires well-drained land.
Overhows from streams are usually
fatal to 1t during its growing pc.
riod. in fact. 1t IL unusual for II to
survive more than "a hours Of COM
plete submergence. although during
its dormant period in the winter It is
less susceptible.
Not the least difilculty that the al
falfa grower must face Is the neces-
sity for thorough incubation Of the
soil In regions where the proper bac.
terra are not supplied by nature.
Throughout the western half of the
United States incubation in general
does not appear TO be necessary. but
In the East the grower who neglects
this precaution is practically certain
to lose his time. There are two
methods now In general use. The
bacteria may be supplied either by
alfalfa field. or by cultures. The ar
tincial cultures arc supplied by the
United States department Of agricul-
ture and their use explained in detail
in the printed matter which accom-
panies the bottle Of culture. After
being mixed with the clean water and
certain chemicals these cultures are
applied to the seed, which is then
dried in . shaded place and sown as
soon as possible When this method
IL successful at all 1t appears to be
fully as much 80 as the scattering Of
soil.
For some reason, however. which
has not yet been definitely deter.
mined. complete failures occasionally
occur. more frequently, in fact, than
when inoculation Is practiced by the
transfer of soil. In the latter case
from 800 to 800 pounds Of soil per
acre should be used Care should be
taken to obtain the soil only from
healthy stands known to be free from
noxious weeds or plant diseases. To
secure and handle such quantities of
soil is necessarily a somewhat burden.
some and expensive business. and 1t
IL, therefore. desirable to obtain the
soil from as near by Is possible.
When no good soil is available in the
immediate vicinity 1t is best to seed
a very small area the first season and
to use this soil for inoculating larger
areas later on. Where only a small
quantity Of soil is available. very sat
fsfactory results can ordinarily be OBJ
tained by mixing the seed with an
equal quantity. pound for pound. OF
the alfalfa soil. mashed free from even
small clods. This mixture may be
run through drill-or sown on a
cloudy day-or after sundown. II 1t
must be seeded broadcast in the sun
shine. scatter the mixture directly in
front Of the covering harrow 1t 10
also possible to reduce the quantity
Of soil needed for incubation by thor
oughly mixing II with several times
its weight of ordinary earth. In such
cases from 200 to 200 pounds per acre
may be found sufficient. The grower.
however who attempts to skimp in
the incubation Of his land, like the
grower who attempts to use any but
the best land, is apt to find that al
falfa instead Of a profitable is losing
CROP