Evening journal., 1915-10-21
URGES FARMERS TO
GROW MORE alfalfa
Professor Grantham Points
Out Value of the Crop
to the Grower
AVERAGE YIELD
4 TONS TO ACRE

Special to THE EVENING JOURNAL
NEWARK. Del. Oct. PA bulletin
prepared by Prof. A. e. Grant-ham,
agronomist at the Delaware College
Experiment Station, which has Just
been printed. should be of great value
to the farmers of Delaware The
title of this bulletin in Alfalfa in
Delaware" Professor Grantham has
given the subject several years of
study and believes the crop will prove
q paying one to the farmers of the
State. II has now been tried in al
most every hundred of the State. and
Professor Grantham claims it can
be successfully grown. In his bull
letin Professor Grantham says:
l. Alfalfa can be grown in any
type of Delaware soil, providing it is
well drained
2. The farming practice of Della
ware, which is more or less intensive,
favors the addition Of a crop like
alfalfa.
g. In feeding value. alfalfa hay is
not equalled by that made from any
other forage crop.
T. The alfalfa plant, either in the
green or cured state, may be utilized
as feed for all classes of live stock.
5. In Delaware the yield of alfalfa
hay will average four tons per acre
per year under good conditions.
6. It has been found that alfalfa
nay may be substituted for a con-
siderable of the concentrated feeds
now used on dairy farms.
Z. Alfalfa should be sown In the
late summer, preferably in the month
Of August.
s. The soil is best prepared by
growing a titled crop early in the
season. or by summer following.
g. Lime is absolutely necessary for
securing a stand Of alfalfa on Della
ware soil. II must be added in suf-
ficient quantities to neutralize the
acidity Of the soil. Station expert
ments and cooperative tests through
out the State indicate that lime is
highly essential to successful alfalfa
,ulture. These experiments show
hat lime alone gave a greater in
rease in yield than fertilizer alone.
Where both were used, lime increased
he effectiveness of the fertilizer
nearly 20 per cent.
10. Any form Of lime may be used
Effectively. providing ground lime
stone (unburnt) is applied at double
the rate of burnt or hydrated lime.
For a clay loan, one ton per acre Of
burn lime is usually sufficient; for
sandy land, one-half ton.
IL. Innoculation is as important
as lime in growing alfalfa in Della
ware. Tests have shown that in
oculation increased the effectiveness
of lime and fertilizer 100 per cent
The inoculation may be made by the
use of soil from an alfalfa field OF
by artificial cultures
-. A complete fertilizer approxi-
mately a S-10-6 mixture, may be ap-
piled at the rate of 500 to 500 pounds
per acre where the alfalfa follows
wheat or oats. After potatoes, or
other titled crop. mixture contain
ing II per cent. phosporic acid and
per cent potash and applied at the
rate of 400 to 500 pounds per acre is
uffcient
13. Experiments at the station in
ficste that alfalfa is most benefited
by applications Of phosphoric acid.
Less marked was the effect of potash.
vet the two combined give the greatest
net profit of the various treatments
implied.
IA. Twenty pounds Of prime alfalfa
seed is sufficient for one acre.
Is. American grown seed from the
uhirrigated districts of the western
States has proved the most desirable
type for humid conditions as in Del
aware.
16 Alfalfa should be cut as soon
as the BASAL shoots appear on the
plant This generally occurs when
the alfalfa is coming in blossom.
H. Alfalfa should be cured with
as little handling as possible in order
to prevent too great loss of leaves.
Is. Top dressings Of manue are
best applied in the fall; mineral
fertilizers early in the spring.
10. There is hardly a farm in Del
aware that does not have at least a
small area Of ground adapted TO al
falfa growing.